Server reservation method, reservation control apparatus and program storage medium

ABSTRACT

To allow many users to efficiently use the functions of a processing server that performs predetermined processing, via a network and also to prevent interference by illegal users. In a content supply system  100 , in order to use a streaming server  102  to perform a live distribution, a user PC  106  to be used makes a reservation for a time zone, etc. to a server reservation control center  101 . When the reservation is accepted, the user PC  106  sends a reconfirmation (reconfirmation of the reservation) to the server reservation control center  101  by six hours before the distribution start time according to the reservation. If the reconfirmation is not made by six hours before, the server reservation control center  101  cancels the reservation. On the other hand, if the reconfirmation is made by six hours before, the server reservation control center  101  confirms the reservation and carries out billing processing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a server reservation method formaking a reservation for the use of functions of a processing serverthat performs predetermined processing, by accessing the processingserver via a network, a reservation control apparatus that controlsreservations for the use of the processing server and a program storagemedium that stores a program to be executed by the reservation controlapparatus.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] In a computer network system, an individual generally opens ahomepage to provide created content over the Internet.

[0005] When a user personally opens a homepage, the user acquires ahomepage creation program with a personal computer (hereinafter referredto as “PC”), creates a homepage hyper-linked with a plurality of contentbased on the homepage creation program and stores the homepage in aserver of an Internet service provider (hereinafter referred to as“ISP”)

[0006] Then, the ISP provides the homepage to a client who has accessedit over the Internet from the server and when an anchor on the homepageis clicked, then the ISP provides linked content.

[0007] In recent years, contents to be supplied to clients over theInternet include many motion pictures and sounds in addition to stillpictures. To provide content such as motion pictures, motion picturefiles and audio files created by the user are uploaded beforehand in apredetermined storage area in a streaming server of the ISP. Then, uponreceiving a client's request, the streaming server of the ISPdistributes corresponding files to the client by streaming over theInternet.

[0008] Furthermore, the technique of distributing content such as motionpictures to clients over the Internet includes a technique called “livedistribution”, in addition to “on-demand distribution” whereby a motionpicture file is uploaded in a streaming server beforehand anddistributed in response to a request from a client as described above.In the live distribution, motion picture data created by a contentcreator, for example, using a digital camera, is encoded in real timeand is sent to the streaming server over the Internet, etc. Then, thestreaming server reproduces the motion picture data supplied in realtime from the content creator while recording it in a dedicated storagearea, and can thereby supply the motion picture data in real time to therequesting client.

[0009] When the above-described live distribution is performed, thecontent creator needs to send motion picture data to the streamingserver in real time, and it is necessary to secure a communication pathto transmit motion picture data between the streaming server and apersonal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) of the contentcreator while live distribution is performed. This limits the number ofcontent that can be distributed by live distribution using the streamingserver during the same period, and in a rush time zone, there is aproblem that the content creator who has been preparing for livedistribution in the time zone may not perform live distribution in thattime zone.

[0010] In order to prevent such a problem and insure efficient use ofthe streaming server to perform live distribution, it is possible to usethe streaming server based on a reservation system. However, adoptingsuch a reservation system may present the following problem. That is,when a reservation system is adopted, illegal users may make fictitiousreservations (making a reservation but not fulfilling it) in many timezones, which prevents other users from making reservations. Suchfictitious reservations by illegal users can put in danger thecontinuation of the reservation system.

[0011] Such a problem can occur not only in the reservation system ofthe streaming server for carrying out a live distribution but also inthe case where a user PC uses the functions of a processing server thatcarries out predetermined processing other than live distributions, viaa network such as the Internet and adopts a reservation system takinginto account the processing capacity of the processing server andsecuring of the communication path between them, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is toprovide a server reservation method, a reservation control apparatus anda program storage medium capable of allowing many users to efficientlyuse the functions of a processing server that performs predeterminedprocessing via a network and also reducing interference by illegalusers.

[0013] The foregoing object and other objects of the invention have beenachieved by the provision of taking the following steps when the userterminal apparatus makes a reservation for the use of the processingserver, via the network in order for the user terminal device to use thefunctions of the processing server that performs predeterminedprocessing, by accessing the processing server via the network. Atfirst, the user terminal apparatus sends reservation request informationincluding a desired service time to use the processing server to thereservation control apparatus via the network. When the reservation forthe use of the processing server during the desired service timeincluded in the reservation request information is accepted, thenpermission notification information notifying that the reservation isaccepted is sent to the user terminal apparatus via the network. Then,reconfirmation information for the accepted reservation is sent from theuser terminal apparatus to the reservation control apparatus via thenetwork. The reservation is confirmed when the reservation controlapparatus receives the reconfirmation information sent from the userterminal apparatus by a predetermined time before the desired servicetime, and the reservation is canceled when the reservation controlapparatus does not receive the reconfirmation information by apredetermined time before the desired service time.

[0014] Adopting such a reservation system to use the functions of theprocessing server allows many users of user terminal apparatuses toefficiently use the processing server. Furthermore, since thereservation is canceled when the user of the user terminal apparatusdoes not send reconfirmation information of a reservation to thereservation control apparatus by a predetermined time before, it ispossible to prevent illegal users from making fictitious reservations inmany time zones. On the other hand, legal users can confirm reservationsby sending the reconfirmation information and if the legal users do notsend the reconfirmation information by a predetermined time before, theycan cancel the reservation, without taking any reservation cancellationprocedure.

[0015] As described above, the present invention allows many users toefficiently use the functions of the processing server that performspredetermined processing via a network and can also prevent interferenceby illegal users.

[0016] The nature, principle and utility of the invention will becomemore apparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts aredesignated by like reference numerals or characters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In the accompanying drawings:

[0018]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outlined overallconfiguration of a content supply system to which a method of using aserver according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user PCthat utilizes a personal casting service in the content supply system;

[0020]FIGS. 3A to 3D are perspective views showing configurationexamples of appearance of the user PC above;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a drawing showing an initial screen when an applicationprogram of the user PC starts;

[0022]FIGS. 5A and 5B are drawings showing a display screen of thedisplay section of the user PC in a capture mode;

[0023]FIGS. 6A to 6C are drawings showing a display screen of thedisplay section of the user PC in an upload mode;

[0024]FIGS. 7A and 7B are drawings showing a display screen of thedisplay section of the user PC in a Web check mode;

[0025]FIGS. 8A and 8B are drawings showing a display screen of thedisplay section of the user PC in a live reservation mode;

[0026]FIGS. 9A and 9B are drawings showing a display screen of thedisplay section of the user PC in a live distribution mode;

[0027]FIG. 10 is a drawing showing an effect display field in the livedistribution mode;

[0028]FIGS. 11A to 11C are drawings showing a display screen duringeffect setting processing in the live distribution mode;

[0029]FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a serverreservation control apparatus of the content supply system;

[0030]FIG. 13 is a drawing showing the top page of a Web page stored ina hard disk of a live casting server of the server reservation controlapparatus;

[0031] FIGS. 14 to 17 are drawings showing the Web page stored in thehard disk of the live casting server;

[0032]FIG. 18 is a drawing showing the contents of the reservationdatabase of the server reservation control apparatus;

[0033]FIG. 19 is a sequence flow chart showing processing operations bythe user PC and the live casting server during member registration;

[0034]FIG. 20 is a drawing showing a display screen of the displaysection of the user PC during the member registration;

[0035]FIG. 21 is a sequence flow chart showing processing operations bythe user PC and the live casting server during distribution reservation;

[0036]FIG. 22 is a drawing showing a display screen shown on the displaysection of the user PC during the distribution reservation;

[0037]FIG. 23 is a drawing showing a display screen shown on the displaysection of the user PC during the distribution reservation;

[0038]FIG. 24 is a drawing showing a display screen shown on the displaysection of the user PC during the distribution reservation above;

[0039]FIG. 25 is a sequence flow chart showing processing operations bythe user PC and the live casting server during reconfirmation processingin the distribution reservation;

[0040]FIG. 26 is a drawing showing a display screen shown on the displaysection of the user PC during the reconfirmation processing;

[0041]FIG. 27 is a drawing showing a display screen shown on the displaysection of the user PC during the reconfirmation processing;

[0042]FIG. 28 is a drawing showing a reservation setting informationfile created by the live casting server and sent to the user PC duringthe reconfirmation processing;

[0043]FIG. 29 is a drawing showing a display screen shown on the displaysection of the user PC during the reconfirmation processing;

[0044]FIG. 30 is a drawing showing the contents of e-mail to be sent toe-mail addresses specified during the reconfirmation processing;

[0045] FIGS. 31 to 33 are drawings showing a display screen shown on thedisplay section of the user PC when a reservation is changed;

[0046]FIGS. 34 and 35 are drawings showing a display screen shown on thedisplay section above of the user PC above when a reservation iscanceled;

[0047]FIG. 36 is a drawing showing a display screen shown on the displaysection of the user PC when a reservation is confirmed;

[0048]FIG. 37 is a sequence flow chart showing processing operations inthe content supply system during the live distribution;

[0049]FIG. 38 is a drawing showing a display screen of a client PC thatreceives a content supply during the live distribution;

[0050]FIG. 39 is a schematic drawing showing an overall configuration ofa network system according to a modification of the embodiment;

[0051]FIG. 40 is a schematic perspective view showing an externalconfiguration of a camera-integrated digital cellular phone;

[0052]FIG. 41 is a schematic perspective view showing a display sectionof the camera-integrated digital cellular phone when the camera isrotated; and

[0053]FIG. 42 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of thecamera-integrated digital cellular phone.

DEATILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

[0054] Preferred embodiments of this invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings:

[0055] A. Configuration of Contents Supply System

[0056] A-1. Outlined Overall System Configuration

[0057] At first, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overallconfiguration of a content supply system 100 that supplies a personalcasting service using a method of using a server according to anembodiment of the present invention. This embodiment describes a casewhere the present invention is applied to a method of using a streamingserver with a function of distributing content such as motion picturedata by streaming, but the present invention can also be applied tomethods of using servers with different processing functions.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 1, this content supply system 100 comprises auser PC (distributor terminal apparatus) 106 connected to the Internet103 via an Internet service provider (not shown) and telephone network104, a server reservation control center 101 connected to the Internet103, a streaming server (processing server) 102 and a plurality (threein the figure) of client PCs 107 connected to the Internet 103 with atelephone line (not shown) or a dedicated line (not shown). Thestreaming server 102 is connected to a dedicated server connectionnetwork 108, and when data is sent from the user PC 106 to the streamingserver 102 during a live distribution, which will be described later,the user PC 106 connects to an access port of the dedicated serverconnection network 108 based on point-to-point protocol (PPP) via thetelephone network 104. This establishes a communication path between theuser PC 106 and streaming server 102 and the content data can be sentusing this communication path. A dedicated line 109 is also laid betweenthe streaming server 102 and the server reservation control center 101and data is transferred between them using the dedicated line 109 inauthentication processing, etc. which will be described later.

[0059] In this content supply system 100, the user of the user PC 106sends content data (e.g., video data, etc. obtained by shooting a musiclive) shot by a digital camera, etc. to the streaming server 102 in areserved time zone (e.g., 15:00 to 16:00), while the streaming server102 distributes the content data by streaming to the client PC 107 thathas requested. In this way, the content supply system 100 can provide apersonal casting service that implements personal broadcasting such thatcontent data shot by the user of the user PC 106 using a digital camera,etc. is received and reproduced by the client PC 107 in real time.

[0060] Furthermore, this content supply system 100 adopts a reservationsystem whereby each user makes a reservation for using or accessing thestreaming server 102 in order to implement a personal casting servicethat allows the user to reliably transmit personal broadcasting in adesired time zone. That is, the user requests the server reservationcontrol center 101 over the Internet 103 for a reservation of a timezone during which the user wants to carry out personal broadcasting,that is, a time zone during which the user (PC) wants to access thestreaming server 102 and use the stream distribution function of thestreaming server 102. Then, when the reservation is permitted by theserver reservation control center 101, the user PC 106 can access thestreaming server 102 in the time zone based on this reservation andperform the live distribution.

[0061] The content supply system 100 is a system that provides thepersonal casting service utilizing the above-described reservationsystem, and the components of this content supply system 100 will beexplained in detail below.

[0062] A-2. User PC

[0063] At first, the user PC 106 will be explained. In this embodiment,the user PC 106 is kind of a PC which is used to transmit content databy a user who has the right to become a broadcasting party who createsand transmits content data after completing a registration procedure,etc. which will be described later in a personal casting service by thecontent supply system 100.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 2, the user PC 106 comprises a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 120 that performs various kinds of operationprocessing and controls each section, a random access memory (RAM) 121used as a work memory of the CPU 120, a read only memory (ROM) 122 thatstores a set of programs to be read and executed by the CPU 120, a harddisk 123 that stores a set of programs such as an operating system(e.g., “Windows 95/98/2000” (Microsoft Corporation)) and applicationprograms, etc. to be read and executed by the CPU 120, a display section124 such as a liquid crystal display that displays an image for theuser, a display interface 125 to display an image based on data suppliedfrom the CPU 120 on the display section 124, an operation section 126such as a keyboard, mouse and rotatable dial and operation button whichwill be described later, used by the user to enter instructions, anoperation section interface 127 that supplies data indicatinginstructions entered via the operation section 126 to the CPU 120, anetwork interface 128 that transmits/receives data to/from devicesconnected to the internet 103 (see FIG. 1) and the dedicated serverconnection network 108 (see FIG. 1) via a telephone network 104 (seeFIG. 1), and a digital video camera 129 incorporated in the user PC 106.By the way, data in the hard disk 123 is read/written by the CPU 120 andthe hard disk 123 also stores motion picture data and various kinds ofcontrol data.

[0065] Here, FIGS. 3A to 3D illustrate configuration examples ofappearance of the user PC 106 with the built-in digital video camera129. As shown in FIG. 3A, the user PC 106 shown in this examplecomprises, as in the case of a general notebook personal computer, adisplay side case 106 a provided with a liquid crystal screen 124 a anda keyboard side case 106 b provided with a keyboard 126 a and both areconnected in a relatively pivotable manner by a hinge 106 c.Furthermore, the display side case 106 a is also made relativelypivotable with respect to the keyboard side case 106 b in the directionindicated by an arrow A in the figure. Furthermore, a rotatableoperation dial 126 b is provided on one side of the display side case106 a. This operation dial 126 b can be not only rotated but alsopressed.

[0066] On one end face of the keyboard side case 106 b are attached abutton case 106 e with a plurality (four in the figure) of operationbuttons 126 c and the above-described digital video camera 129. Thebutton case 106 e is fixed to the keyboard side case 106 b asillustrated. On the other hand, the digital video camera 129 issupported at one point on the lateral end face of the keyboard side case106 b in a pivotable manner, which allows the digital video camera 129to rotate freely in the direction shown by an arrow B in the figure.

[0067] With such a structure, the user PC 106 can be used not only inthe mode similar to a general notebook personal computer shown in FIG.3A but also in modes shown in FIGS. 3B to 3D. For example, in the modeshown in FIG. 3B, the user can hold the user PC 106 to take pictures ofthe user himself/herself using the digital video camera 129. In thiscase, since a liquid crystal screen 124 a faces to the user side asillustrated, the user can take pictures while checking the video. Inthis mode, the keyboard 126 a is located on the side opposite to theuser, and it is difficult for the user to operate the keyboardcorrectly. Taking into account this point, operations related tophotographing and processing of video, etc. of the digital video camera129 (e.g., operations to instruct start and stop of photographing,zooming, addition of effects, saving of motion picture data andtransmission, etc.) in a processing according to an application programdescribed later can be performed by operating the above-describedoperation dial 126 b and operation buttons 126 c. Furthermore, in themode shown in FIG. 3C, the user can hold the user PC 106 to takepictures of a target in front while watching the LCD screen 124 a.

[0068] Returning to FIG. 2, the user PC 106 is configured to performvarious kinds of processing such as motion picture data distributionprocessing serviced from the above-described content supply system 100,creation/processing of motion picture data and world-wide web (WWW)browsing by the CPU 120 executing an application program stored in theROM 122 and the hard disk 123 based on turning ON of a power supply (notshown) and instructions input by the user with the operation section126. Hereinafter, focused on various functions realized by the CPU 120executing the processing according to the application program, thefunctions of the user PC 106 will be explained with reference to thedisplay screen, etc.

[0069] At first, when the user PC 106 executes the application program,an initial screen as shown in FIG. 4 appears on the display section 124under the control of CPU 120. As shown in the same figure, this initialscreen shows a large-size main screen display area 40 for displaying animage taken with the digital video camera 129, etc. and a small-size subimage display area 41 for displaying a preview of the last image takenwhen the application program was executed previously on the upper rightside of the screen. Furthermore, a graphical user interface (GUI) toselect a mode, type of image (camera), setting and the contents of aninstruction (operation) is displayed under the sub image display area41. By selecting and setting these items, the user can select a mode,select the type of image such as still picture (STILL) or motion picture(MOVIE), change the settings and enter instructions, etc.

[0070] In this application, the user can select an mode from five modesof a capture mode (a mode when “Capture” on the GUI is selected), anupload mode (a mode when “View/send” on the GUI is selected), a Webcheck mode (a mode when “View Web” on the GUI is selected), a livereservation mode (a mode when “To live reservation/check” on the GUI isselected) and a live distribution mode (mode when “To live distribution”on the GUI is selected). By the way, the capture mode is selected in theinitial state of the time when the application program is started.

[0071] The capture mode is a mode in which pictures are taken with thedigital video camera 129 incorporated in the user PC 106 and when thismode is selected or in the initial state, a screen as shown in FIG. 5Ais displayed under the control of CPU 120. As shown in the same figure,the display screen in the capture mode shows the main image display area40 and sub image display area 41 in the same way as in theabove-described initial screen (see FIG. 4), and the main image displayarea 40 shows the picture currently being taken and the sub imagedisplay area 41 shows a preview of the last image taken before thecurrent capture.

[0072] In this mode, too, the above-described GUI is shown under the subimage display area 41. As shown in FIG. 5B, the GUI in this mode showsselection items such as “mode”, “camera”, “setting” and “operation”. Theselection item “operation” in this mode includes an item (“capture”) toinstruct a capture of an image and an item to instructconnection/disconnection with the Internet (“net connect/disconnect),etc. and it is possible to select and decide a desired item by rotatingthe operation dial 126 b, moving the focus F (shown with bold line) tothe desired item and then pressing the operation dial 126 b.

[0073] Furthermore, in this capture mode, if a command, etc. which isrequired for capture (e.g., command to instruct a selection of an effectto be given to an image) is assigned to the operation button 126 c (seeFIG. 3) provided on the button case 106 e, the user can performoperations in the capture mode only through operations of the operationdial 126 b and operation buttons 126 c without using the keyboard 126 a(see FIG. 3) making it possible to easily perform a capture operation inthe mode when the keyboard 126 a is in a position that makes itdifficult to operate the keyboard as shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C. Bythe way, the above-described command can be assigned to the operationbuttons 126 c as default, but in this capture mode and other modes whichwill be explained below, it is also possible to allow the user to freelyselect a command to be assigned to the operation buttons 126 c for eachmode. In this way, the user sets so that commands frequently used ineach mode are assigned to the operation buttons 126 c and can therebyreduce the necessity of operating the keyboard 126 a and improve theoperability in each mode.

[0074] The status window SW shown at the bottom of the screen in FIG. 5Ashows the current condition of the user PC 106 (e.g., the battery leveland the vacant storage space of the hard disk drive, etc.), processingcondition in the selected mode (e.g., data size of the image beingtaken), a specified storage medium (hard disk and network, etc.) andinformation on the command assignment of the operation buttons 126 c.

[0075] Then, the upload mode is a mode in which the image data taken inthe above-described capture mode is displayed or referenced or the imagedata is selected and transmitted to a server (not shown) at apredetermined upload destination connected to the Internet 103 (see FIG.1). When this mode is selected, a screen as shown in FIG. 6A isdisplayed on the display section 124 under the control of CPU 120. Asshown in the same figure, the display screen in the upload mode shows apreview area 42, a list display area 43 that shows images taken in atile form (lined vertically in the example in the figure), a GUI, astatus window SW and a transmission capsule icon SC.

[0076] As shown in FIG. 6B, “operation” of the GUI in the upload modeincludes an item to instruct connection/disconnection with the Internet(“connect/disconnect Net”), an item to instruct start/end oftransmission of image data (“transmit start/stop”), an item to instructmovement of the focus F to the list display area 43 (“Move focus”), anitem to instruct a view inside the transmission capsule icon SC, thatis, a view of the list of image data selected to be sent (“seetransmission capsule”), etc. and it is possible to select a desired itemby rotating the operation dial 126 b to move the focus F to a desireditem and then pressing the operation dial 126 b.

[0077] Furthermore, in the upload mode, the operation buttons 126 c areassigned commands to instruct replay/stop of a motion picture in thepreview area 42 and display of a still picture, etc. Furthermore, thestatus window SW in this mode shows the file name of image data, filesize, format (joint photographic experts group (JPEG) and moving pictureexperts group (MPEG), etc.) and information indicating the transmissiondestination currently specified (the name of the server to be uploadedand its uniform resource locator (URL)).

[0078] Here, when an item instructing the move of the focus F to thelist display area 43 (“Move focus”) is selected, the focus F moves tothe list display area 43. When the focus F moves to the list displayarea 43, the focus F sequentially moves from one listed image to anotheraccording to the rotation operation of the operation dial 126 b. Whenthe user wants to send some image data, the user rotates the operationdial 126 b and moves the focus F onto the relevant image data. Then,pressing the operation dial 126 b shows a SUBGUI to instruct processingon the image data as shown in FIG. 6A and the focus F moves onto an itemof this SUBGUI. As shown in FIG. 6C, the SUBGUI includes instructionitems such as “Save”, “Delete”, “Preview” and “Enter into transmissioncapsule”. Here, when the user rotates the operation dial 126 b to movethe focus F onto “Enter into transmission capsule” which is desiredprocessing and presses the operation dial 126 b, the relevant image datais added to the list of image data to be sent. When the user selectsimage data to be sent and sends the image data in this way, the userreturns the focus F onto an item of the GUI and selects “transmitstart/stop”. When “transmit start/stop” is selected, the processing oftransmission of the image data selected by the CPU 120 of the user PC106 is executed.

[0079] Next, the Web check mode is a mode for connecting to a networksuch as the Internet and carrying out browsing. When the Web check modeis selected, a screen as shown in FIG. 7A is displayed on the displaysection 124 under the control of CPU 120. As shown in the same figure,the Web check mode shows a browser display screen 44 that shows a Webbrowser, a URL display field 45 that shows URLs entered to displayresources on the browser display screen 44, a GUI and a status windowSW. Here, when the Web check mode is selected, the CPU 120 executesbrowser software stored in the hard disk 123 (e.g., Internet Explorer(Microsoft Corporation) and Netscape Navigator (registered trademark ofNetscape Communications Inc.)) and the display screen is shown on thebrowser display screen 44 by the browser software.

[0080] As shown in FIG. 7B, the GUI in the Web check mode shows“browsing” to select an instruction item in browsing and “browsing”shows an item to instruct a jump to a predetermined Web page (“Jump”)and an item to operate the browser (e.g., “Next” or “Return”, etc.).“Operation” in this mode includes an item to instructconnection/disconnection with the Internet (“Connect/disconnect Net”),an item to instruct movement of the focus F to the browser displayscreen 44 (“Move focus”), etc. and it is possible to select a desireditem by rotating the operation dial 126 b to move the focus F to adesired item and then pressing the operation dial 126 b.

[0081] This “Web check” allows the user to perform general browsingprocessing such as entering a URL and performing browsing.

[0082] Then, the live reservation mode is a mode to reserve a time zone,etc. to be connected to the server reservation control center 101 (seeFIG. 1) over the Internet 103 and carry out personal broadcasting usingthe above personal casting service. When the live reservation mode isselected, a screen as shown in FIG. 8A is displayed on the displaysection 124 under the control of CPU 120. As shown in the same figure,the live reservation mode shows a reservation list display area 46 inaddition to a browser display screen 44, a URL display field 45, a GUIand a status window SW in the same way as in the above Web check mode.

[0083] As shown in FIG. 8B, “operation” of the GUI in the livereservation mode includes an item to instruct connection/disconnectionwith the Internet (“connect/disconnect net”) and item to instructmovement of the focus F to the browser display screen 44 (“Move focus”),etc. The GUI in this mode shows “browsing” as in the case of the aboveWeb check mode and “browsing” shows an item to instruct a jump to a Webpage to make a live reservation (“Jump for reservation”) and an item tooperate the browser (e.g., “Next” or “Return”, etc.) etc. It is possiblefor the user to select a desired item by rotating the operation dial 126b to move the focus F to a desired item and then pressing the operationdial 126 b. By the way, the Web page to make a live reservation is kindof a Web page that is stored by the live casting server, which will bedescribed later, in the server reservation control center 101 in itshard disk.

[0084] When the user makes a reservation for live distribution using thepersonal casting service, the user selects and decides the item toinstruct a jump to the Web page to make a reservation for distribution.Then, the CPU 120 accesses the live casting server over the Internet 103to make a live reservation and can thereby exchange reservation-relatedinformation such as sending reservation request information to therelevant live casting server and downloading the reservation settinginformation from the live casting server.

[0085] The reservation list display area 46 shows a list of the contentsof reservations made by the user to the above server reservation controlcenter 101 and displays outlined information such as a reservation timezone, etc. for each reservation. When the user rotates the operationdial 126 b to move the focus F onto the reservation list display area46, presses the operation dial 126 b and thereby selects the item on thereservation list display area 46 which shows the desired reservationoutlined information, then the CPU 120 controls such as jumping to theWeb page to check the reservation of the live casting server of theserver reservation control center 101. Details about thereservation-related processing between the user PC 106 and serverreservation control center 101 will be described later.

[0086] Then, the live distribution mode is a mode for connecting to thestreaming server 102 (see FIG. 1) via the telephone network 104 anddedicated server connection network 108 and transmitting content datasuch as motion picture data, etc. taken with the digital video camera129 to the streaming server 102 in real time and the content data sentin this mode is distributed by streaming by the streaming server 102 tothe client PC 107 that sent a request. This allows the user todistribute personal broadcasting in real time.

[0087] When such a live distribution mode is selected, a screen as shownin FIG. 9A appears on the display section 124 under the control of CPU120. As shown in the same figure, the live reservation mode shows aneffect display field 48, a preview screen 47 that displays an image tobe sent to the streaming server 102, that is, an image taken with thedigital video camera 129 with predetermined effects, etc. applied, theGUI and status window SW.

[0088] The status window SW in the live distribution mode shows on-airinformation that indicates that distribution is in progress,distribution elapsed time information indicating the elapsed time afterdistribution is started, time information on the service provider side,time information on the user PC 106 side, reserved time zone informationthat indicates reservation start time and reservation end time, imagesize information, bit rate information indicating the distribution datatransmission rate (bit rate), distributed image data title nameinformation, connection destination information indicating the connectedstreaming server 102 and its channel and audience number informationindicating the number of clients who receive content datastream-distributed by the streaming server 102, etc.

[0089] As shown in FIG. 9B, “operation” of the GUI in the livedistribution mode includes an item to instruct connection/disconnectionwith the Internet (“Connect/disconnect Net”), an item to instruct thestart/end of live distribution (“Start/finish distribution”), an effectsetting item to set effects shown in the effect display field 48 (“Seteffect”), an item to instruct the movement of the focus F to the effectdisplay field 48 (“Move focus”), etc. and it is possible to select adesired item by rotating the operation dial 126 b to move the focus F toa desired item and pressing the operation dial 126 b.

[0090] Here, when the user selects and decides an item to instruct thestart/end of live distribution, the CPU 120 connects to the streamingserver 102 via the telephone network 104 and dedicated server connectionnetwork 108 according to the reservation setting information suppliedfrom the live casting server in the above live reservation mode. Then,when the connection with the streaming server 102 is established, theCPU 120 sends motion picture data taken with the digital video camera129 to the streaming server 102 in real time according to the contents(e.g., data transfer rate, etc.) set in the above reservation settinginformation. The processing of communication/connection with thestreaming server 102 and motion picture data transmission processing,etc. after communication/connection will be described later in detail.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 10, the effect display field 48 in the livedistribution mode displays effect names in order in the verticaldirection for each of button A and button B (marked “A” and “B” on theupper surface of the button, etc.) in the operation buttons 126 c. Theuppermost effect name is the currently selected effect name. In theexample of the figure, button A shows selection candidates such as“Heart pattern display”, “None”, “clapping sound” . . . starting fromthe top. These are used to instruct assignment of an effectcorresponding to the effect name enclosed by the focus F that relativelymoves when the user rotates the operation dial 126 b, that is, thecurrently selected effect name shown at the top and when the userpresses the button A in the operation buttons 126 c, the effectcorresponding to the effect name selected and enclosed by focus F isapplied to the image taken with the digital video camera 129. Forexample, in the figure, when button A is pressed, processing of adding aclapping sound which is the effect corresponding to the “Clapping sound”to the motion picture data taken with the digital video camera 129 isexecuted. The focus F moves relatively means that the operation of therotatable dial 126 b does not cause the focus F to move but causes thedisplay string of the effect name to scroll and as a result the focus Fmoves on the “effect name” displayed on the display string.

[0092] Button B shows an effect name “Title impose” currently enclosedby the focus F, that is, selected and below this shows effect names suchas “BGM1”, “Monochrome image”, “Title impose” . . . sequentiallystarting from the top. These are used to instruct that an effectcorresponding to the effect name enclosed by the focus F be applied andby the user pressing the button B in the operation buttons 126 c, theeffect corresponding to the effect name enclosed by the focus F isapplied to the image taken with the digital video camera 129. Forexample, in the figure, when button B is pressed, processing ofsuperimposing the title name which is the effect corresponding to “Titleimpose” is executed on the motion picture data taken with the digitalvideo camera 129. The effect processing corresponding to button A is theaddition of “clapping sound” which is processing to be temporarilyapplied, while the effect processing corresponding to button B isapplied continuously. Therefore, a toggle button is used as button B inthe operation buttons 126 c in the user PC 106 and once pressed, effectapplying processing such as “monochrome image”, etc. is continued untilthe button is pressed the next time.

[0093] Furthermore, a preset effect name preset by the user is shown tothe right of the effect names corresponding to button B on the screen.The effect shown here is applied continuously unless the effect to bepreset is changed in the effect setting, which will be described later,irrespective of button operations. In the example in the figure,“Date/time” is set and in this case, the date/time is alwayssuperimposed in the motion picture data to be distributed.

[0094] The above effect processing is implemented assuming that livedistribution will be performed, that is, motion picture data taken withthe digital video camera 129 will be sent in real time. That is, whenlive distribution is performed, the user PC 106 sends images taken inreal time and the operation when applying effects, etc. to the imagestaken is required to be simple, and therefore it is designed thatprocessing can be executed by a single operation of pressing button A orbutton B as described above. However, while it is possible to instructthe processing of applying an effect by a single operation of pressingbutton A or button B, when button A or button B is depressed, theprocessing of the effect corresponding to the effect name enclosed bythe focus F in the effect display field 48 is executed. Therefore, ifthe effect name and its display sequence shown in the effect displayfield 48 do not match the user's intention, the amount that the focus Fmust be moved increases relatively to apply the desired effect, whichwill take much time to rotate the operation dial 126 b, preventing theuser from applying the desired effect at desired timing.

[0095] Thus, selecting “Set effect” on the GUI (see FIG. 9B) in the livedistribution mode makes it possible to set what effect from among manyeffects provided beforehand should be displayed in the above effectfield 48 in what order. Here, FIG. 11 shows a screen displayed on thedisplay section 124 when “Set effect” (see FIG. 9B) of the above GUI isselected. As shown in FIG. 11A, 11B and 11C, three setting screens,button A, button B and preset button, are provided. The screen toperform the effect setting corresponding to button A in FIG. 11A shows abutton A effect list field 50 a that lists many effect names providedand to be temporarily assigned, that is, effect names corresponding tobutton A on the left side of the screen and a registration list field 52to be displayed in the above effect display field 48 on the right sideof the screen. The registration list field 52 displays button Aregistration list field 52 a, button B registration list field 52 b andpreset registration field 52 c. On the button A setting screen, thedisplay colors of the button B registration list field 52 b and thepreset registration field 52 c are different from the display color ofbutton A registration list field 52 a, which allows the user to easilyrecognize the currently settable registration field. In the button Aeffect list field 50 a, the user can scroll up and down many providedand executable effect names for effect processing.

[0096] On such a display screen, the user selects an effect to bedisplayed in the effect display field 48 from among the effectsdisplayed in the button A effect list field 50 a and drags the selectedeffect into the button A registration list field 52 a. Thus, the usercan make a setting in such a way that desired effects corresponding tobutton A are displayed in the effect display field 48 in a desiredorder.

[0097] When effects corresponding to button B are set, the screen shownin FIG. 11B is displayed. On the right side of this screen, a button Beffect list 50 b that displays many effect names provided andconsecutively applied, that is, effect names corresponding to button Bis displayed. In the button B effect list 50 b, the user can scroll upand down many provided and executable effect names for effectprocessing.

[0098] On such a display screen, the user selects an effect to bedisplayed in the effect display field 48 from among the effectsdisplayed in the button B effect list field 50 b and drags the selectedeffect into the button B registration list field 52 b. Thus, the usercan make a setting in such a way that desired effects corresponding tobutton B are displayed in the effect display field 48 in a desiredorder.

[0099] When preset effects are set, the screen shown in FIG. 11C isdisplayed. On the right side of this screen, a preset effect list 50 cthat displays many effect names provided and consecutively applied isdisplayed. In this preset effect list 50 c, the user can scroll up anddown many provided and executable effect names for effect processing.

[0100] On such a display screen, the user selects an effect to bedisplayed in the effect display field 48 from among the effectsdisplayed in the preset effect list field 50 c and drags the selectedeffect into the preset registration list field 52 c. Thus, the user canset preset effects.

[0101] When carrying out live distribution, the user generally has anestablished concept of the types of effects to be applied, timing andorder of applying those effects, etc. Therefore, if a setting is madewith consideration given to the types of effects to be applied and orderin which effects are applied based on the user's concept, it is possibleto perform effect processing that will reproduce the user's concept morefaithfully through simple operations in live distribution.

[0102] The user PC 106 can store an application program provided withthe five functions of the capture mode, the upload mode, the Web checkmode, the live reservation mode and the live distribution mode asdescribed above in the hard disk 123 and execute the above processingfunction. In addition, the user PC 106 also stores a program to executeprocessing for automatically incorporating a reservation settinginformation file, which will be described later, when a reservation forlive distribution is made and a program to execute processing forcommunication/connection with the streaming server 102. The functionsobtained by executing these programs will be described in detail later.

[0103] A-3. Server Reservation Control Apparatus

[0104] As described above, when the user PC 106 performs livedistribution as a broadcaster, it is necessary to make a reservation foruse of the streaming server 102 in the time zone for carrying out livedistribution in a personal casting service provided by the contentsupply system 100. Next, the server reservation control center 101 onthe service provider side who controls the reservation for use of thestreaming server 102 will be explained with reference to FIG. 12.

[0105] As shown in FIG. 12, the server reservation control center 101comprises a live casting server 150, a reservation database 151, a userdatabase 152, a network time protocol (NTP) server 153, a networkinterface 154 and a database server 155, all of which are mutuallyconnected with a local area network (LAN). Here, each component of theserver reservation control center 101 exchanges various kinds of datawith the user PC 106 and the client PC 107 which are connected to theInternet 103 via the network interface 154, and the streaming server 102connected to a dedicated line 109 (see FIG. 1).

[0106] The live casting server 150 is a server that performs processingto control the overall service such as live distribution reservationprocessing, billing processing, service member registration processingin a personal casting service. The live casting server 150 stores Webpages for registration for the user to acquire the right to utilize thisservice, for reservation reception to receive the reservation from theuser, for reservation confirmation for the user to confirm or change thereservation and for referencing a program table to reference programtable, etc. distributed by the live distribution to the client PC 107,in the hard disk. When receiving a request from the user PC 106 orclient PC 107, the user PC 106 or client PC 107 is allowed to browse theWeb page corresponding to this request. The Web page provided for thelive casting server 150 will be explained with reference to the displayscreen displayed on the browser screen of the PC that has requested thebrowsing of the Web page.

[0107] By using a PC such as the user PC 106 or client PC 107, which isconnectable to the Internet 103, the user enters a URL to identify thetop page (homepage) of a Web page of the live casting server 150 andmakes a request for browsing, then a Web page display screen shown inFIG. 13 appears on the requesting PC. By the way, the method ofrequesting the browsing of the top page of a Web page of the livecasting server 150 also includes a method of jumping to a desired pageby clicking a link button on another homepage, in addition to the methodof entering the URL described above.

[0108] As shown in FIG. 13, this homepage shows link buttons including“Member registration”, “What is personal casting TV?”, “Today's live”,“Program guide”, “My channel”, “Live distribution reservation”, “Programpickup”, “Image Station”, in addition to the columns for entering a userID and password to log in. When any link button is clicked, a Web pagehyper-linked to the link button is displayed on the PC side.

[0109] When “Member registration” is clicked, a Web page for registeringa person as a member who is eligible to the personal casting serviceappears on the display screen of the PC, which will be described indetail later.

[0110] Then, when “What is personal casting TV?” is clicked, a screen asshown in FIG. 14 appears on the display screen of the PC. As shown inthis figure, this Web page screen shows a description urging memberregistration for utilizing the personal casting service and a linkbutton “To registration page” to jump to the “Member registration” Webpage. Moreover, this display screen includes outlined descriptions ofthe personal casting service and processing procedure, etc.

[0111] Then, when “Today's live” is clicked, a screen as shown in FIG.15 appears on the display screen of the PC. As shown in this figure,this Web page screen shows live programs to be distributed today andshows the current time set on the service provider side (a reservationis executed based on this time) at the top and a list of informationabout items such as distribution time, title, distributor and outline,etc. of a special program and a private program to be distributed todaybelow (the example in the figure describes the names of items displayed,but the contents of the above items (distributor name and title, etc.)are actually displayed)). This “special program” means content suppliedby a company and the “private program” means content supplied by anindividual user like the user PC 106. Furthermore, a program describedas “On-demand” instead of distribution time is an on-demand distributionprogram for storing distribution data in the live casting server 150beforehand and distributing it in response to the request of the clientPC 107, etc, not a distribution program for live-distribution.Furthermore, “Capacity” in a private program is information indicating afixed number of clients who can receive the content of the program, and“OPEN” and “CLOSE” are information indicating whether the content can bedistributed at present in response to the request from the client takingthe fixed capacity into consideration (“OPEN”: distributable, “CLOSE”:not distributable).

[0112] Here, “Title” in the list of programs is a link button and whenthis button is clicked, detailed information of the live program of theclicked “Title” appears as shown in FIG. 16. On this screen, when theuser enters a correct password and clicks on the “Replay” button 175while the program is distributed, a distribution request for the liveprogram is sent to the streaming server 102 over the Internet 103. Thisallows the client PC 107 that has sent the distribution request toreceive content of the live program by streaming from the streamingserver 102 and reproduce this in real time. By the way, reproducing thecontent distributed by streaming by the streaming sever 102 in real timerequires replay software to replay this in real-time (e.g., “Realplayer” (Real Networks Co., Ltd.) and “Windows Media Player” (MicrosoftCorporation), etc.). Therefore, if a PC that sends a distributionrequest does not store such replay software, the “Replay software”button 176 is clicked. This makes it possible to download the Replaysoftware to the PC and to reproduce and view the content distributed bystreaming by the streaming server 102 in real time on the PC.

[0113] Then, when “Program guide” is clicked, a screen as shown in FIG.17 appears on the display screen of the PC. As shown in this r figure,this Web page screen shows a monthly calendar including the present dayand shows a list of programs to be distributed on the date indicated bythe outline characters on a colored background of the calendar. Thislist of programs displayed is the same as “Today's live” described above(see FIG. 16). On this display screen, clicking a desired date on themonthly calendar shows a program list for that relevant date. Thescreens displayed for “Today's live” and “Program guide” are not limitedto those shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, but may be displayed in a displayformat like a TV column of newspaper in which a matrix-like programdisplay filed is provided showing times on the vertical axis andchannels on the horizontal axis and a title name, the contents and adistributor name, etc. are displayed in the matrix, and this displayformat can be set arbitrarily.

[0114] Then, “My channel” is a Web page provided for each user who hasthe right to become a transmitter of live distribution (a userregistered as a premium member, which will be described later) and when“My channel” is clicked, a Web page, etc. to confirm the contents ofreservation of live distribution at this time is displayed. Furthermore,when “Live distribution reservation” is clicked, a Web page to make areservation for live distribution is displayed, but these will bedescribed in detail later. By the way, users who are not members have nouser ID or password, and cannot perform log-in processing such asentering the user ID and password. When “My channel” or “Livedistribution reservation” is clicked on the PC of a user who has notperformed such log-in processing, a jump is not made to thecorresponding Web page but to “What is personal casting TV?” where theuser is urged to register as a member.

[0115] Then, “Program pick up” is a Web page to present programs, etc.recommended by the service provider and when this is clicked, detailedinformation (see FIG. 16) on the program recommended by the serviceprovider appears.

[0116] The live casting server 150 stores the above-described Web pagesin its hard disk.

[0117] Returning to FIG. 12, the reservation database 151 storesinformation on the reservation situation of live distribution andbilling resulting from the reservation. As shown in FIG. 18, thereservation database 151 stores the reservation contents informationincluding the reservation time zone, channel to be used, band to be used(bit per second (bps)), etc. for each reservation, in association withuser ID to identify the user, billing flag information to indicatewhether the reservation is established and billing is possible at thistime and reservation ID used for authentication of the time when thereserved distribution is carried out. Each item of these informationwill be written during reservation processing, etc. by the live castingserver 150 which will be described later and each item of i informationstored with in the authentication processing by the database server 155which will be described later will be referenced.

[0118] The user database 152 stores information on registered users whohave the right to utilize the personal casting service and storesinformation including a name, user ID, password, e-mail address,address, telephone number (cellular phone and facsimile number), creditcard number and expiring date of the credit card for billing, for eachregistered user. Each item of these information will be written duringmember registration processing by the live casting server 150 which willbe described later and referenced in the reservation processing by thelive casting server 150 which will be described later.

[0119] The NTP server 153 controls time information in the apparatusesof the service providers including this server reservation controlcenter 101 and the streaming server 102 together. The live castingserver 150 and streaming server 102 acquire the time information fromthe NTP server 153 and control the live distribution start time and endtime based on the acquired time information. This is because a servicelike live distribution must operate under precise time control. Unifyingthe reference times on the service providers prevents the serverreservation control center 101 and the streaming server 102, which arethe apparatus on the service provider side, from operating based ondifferent times. Furthermore, the time of the user PC 106, which is theuser side apparatus, may be different from the time of the serviceprovider, and if the user of the user PC 106 fails to recognize thistime difference, there may be a difference between the start time andend time of live distribution specified by the service provider and thestart time and end time of live distribution recognized by the user.Therefore, the reservation processing by the live casting server 150notifies the user PC 106 of this time difference, and this timedifference is calculated based on the time information acquired by thelive casting server 150 from the NTP server 153.

[0120] When the user PC 106 or another illegal PC sends a connectionrequest to use the streaming server 102 to the access port of thededicated server connection network 108, the database server 155receives the request from an access server (not shown) of the dedicatedserver connection network 108 and performs authentication processing asto whether the accessing PC is a PC that has made a valid reservation(that is, user PC 106) or not. If that PC has been authenticated to bethe valid PC in the above authentication processing, acommunication/connection between the streaming server 102 and the userPC 106 is established and the user PC 106 requests the streaming server102 to execute streaming distribution processing. In this case, thestreaming server 102 requests the database server 155 for authenticationprocessing to authenticate whether the PC sending the distributionrequest is a PC that has a valid reservation. When receiving such arequest from the streaming server 102, the database server 155 alsoperforms authentication processing to authenticate whether it is a PCthat has a valid reservation. This authentication processing isperformed by referencing the reservation database 151. The two kinds ofauthentication processing above will be explained in detail later.

[0121] A-4. Streaming Server

[0122] Then, the streaming server 102 shown in FIG. 1 receives contentdata such as motion picture data sent from the user PC 106 having theabove-described valid reservation via the dedicated server connectionnetwork 108, etc. and distributes this by streaming to the client PC 107that has requested for a distribution over the Internet 103.

[0123] The streaming server 102 can distribute a plurality of contentsimultaneously. That is, the streaming server 102 has a plurality ofchannels so that a plurality of distributors can distribute content bythe live distribution using the streaming server 102 in the same timezone. This streaming server 102 has a preset number of people who canreceive distribution, transmission band (64 kbps or 28.8 kbps, etc.) andservice fee, etc. for each channel and the user who distribute contentusing the streaming server 102 can select a channel to be reservedtaking into account the above settings.

[0124] Furthermore, the streaming server 102 performs streamingdistribution processing of content sent from the live distributor withthe user PC 106 as described above, and stores commercial content, etc.to be distributed during a free time zone with no reservation orintervals between programs, to distribute the commercial content in suchfree time zones.

[0125] Furthermore, the streaming server 102 controls the distributiontime zone and restriction on the number of client PCs 107 which is toreceive content, according to the contents of reservation permitted tothe user PC 106 by the server reservation control center 101. Thisprocessing will be described later.

[0126] A-5. Communication Path Between Streaming Server and User PC forLive Distribution

[0127] As shown in FIG. 1, the streaming server 102 is connected to thededicated server connection network 108 and when live distributiondescribed above is performed, the user PC 106 is connected to thestreaming server 102 via the telephone network 104 and dedicated serverconnection network 108. The dedicated server connection network 108 is adedicated network provided to carry out the live distribution in thepersonal casting service provided by this content supply system 100.

[0128] Here, while communication/connection between the streaming server102 and user PC 106 is possible via the Internet 103, this contentsupply system 100 has the dedicated server connection network 108 to beconnected to the streaming server 102 in order to secure thetransmission path and transmission band of content data from the user PC106 to the streaming server 102. Such a dedicated network is used forthe following reasons. In order for the user PC 106 to be connected tothe Internet 103, the user PC 106 needs to be connected to an Internetservice provider (hereinafter referred to as “ISP”) with which the userPC 106 has contracted, via the telephone network 104. Such an ISPreceives connections not only from registered members of this personalcasting service but also from PCs of a great number of Internet users.Therefore, when a great number of Internet users connects to the ISP andthereby to the Internet 103, the user PC 106 can no longer secure atransmission band necessary for the live distribution. Moreover, theuser PC 106 may not be able to be connected to the ISP for a reason whythe line is busy. Data transmission using the Internet 103 has theproblem of a deteriorated connection environment as described above,while carrying out live distribution requires a communication path withthe streaming server 102 at a desired bit rate to be secured for adesired duration of time. The above problem may prevent a normal servicefrom being supplied. Therefore, the content supply system 100 preventsthe above problem by providing the dedicated server connection network108 so as not to use the Internet 103.

[0129] The dedicated server connection network 108 is provided with agreat number of lines for connection to the streaming server 102. Thenumber of lines provided for the dedicated server connection network 108is greater than the maximum number of users who can connect to thestreaming server 102 in the same time zone (e.g., if the maximum numberof users who are allowed to connect is 10, the number of lines is 20).This is for the following reason. As described above, the access serverof the dedicated server connection network 108 requests the databaseserver 155 (see FIG. 12) to perform authentication processing on the PCthat has requested for connection in order to authenticate whether thePC that has requested for the connection has a legal reservation. If thePC is judged to have no legal reservation in this authenticationprocessing, the call from the PC requesting for the connection isimmediately cut. Therefore, while any illegal PC cannot use the line ofthe dedicated server connection network 108, one line remains busy whilethe above authentication processing is in progress. For this reason, ifthe maximum number of users allowed to connect is equal to the number oflines provided, an illegal user may make a great number of callssimultaneously to the access port of the dedicated server connectionnetwork 108 for the purpose of interference with the personal castingservice, etc., which will prevent PCs of users with a legal reservationfrom connecting. Therefore, providing lines exceeding the maximum numberof users as shown above reduces the possibility that the service will beinterfered by illegal users.

[0130] Furthermore, this personal casting service allows connection tothe streaming server 102 a predetermined time before the distributionstart time based on the reservation, making it possible to completeconnection processing such as authentication before the time at whichthe distribution is started and to perform live distribution at thereserved distribution start time. Therefore, if reservation times ofdifferent users are continuous, the following problem may occur. Thatis, the connection of a user receiving a distribution who reserved aprevious time zone may overlap the connection after a predetermined timebefore distribution is started, by the user who reserved a posteriortime zone, and the number of lines equal to the maximum number of userswho can receive distribution are not enough. Thus, providing lines twicethe maximum number of users can handle even the case where theconnection by the user who reserves the preceding time zone overlaps theconnection by the user who reserves the posterior time zone.

[0131] Furthermore, the dedicated server connection network 108 to beconnected to the streaming server 102 can provide not only access portsfor a network (e.g., public telephone network) of one carrier but alsoaccess ports accessible from networks (e.g., integrated services digitalnetwork (ISDN) or mobile telephone network) of a plurality of carriers.In this case, the user PC 106 selects a carrier to be connected, callsan access port corresponding to the network of the relevant carrier andestablishes a communication/connection with the streaming server 102 viathe dedicated server connection network 108.

[0132] A-6. Client PC

[0133] As described above, the content data sent from the user PC 106 tothe streaming server 102 in real time is distributed by streaming overthe Internet 103 to the client PC 107 that has sent a request fordistribution to the streaming server 102. The client PC 107 can send adistribution request on the Web page (see FIG. 16) of theabove-described live casting server 150 and also directly send adistribution request to the streaming server 102 by entering the URL ofthe streaming server 102. This embodiment refers to the PC that sends adistribution request to the streaming server 102 and receivesdistribution by streaming from the streaming server 102 and these clientPCs 107 store an application program to reproduce content distributed bystreaming in real time (e.g., “Real player” (Real Networks Co. Ltd.),“Windows Media Player” (Microsoft Corporation), etc.) and can replay andview the distributed content data in real time by executing theapplication program in distribution.

[0134] B. Operation of Content Supply System

[0135] Then, the various processing operations in the content supplysystem 100 having the above configuration to implement a live castingservice will be explained.

[0136] B-1. Member Registration

[0137] At first, when the user of the user PC 106 performs a livedistribution using the personal casting service, it is necessary toapply for member registration to the live casting server 150 of theserver reservation control center 101 to acquire the right to perform alive distribution utilizing this service. FIG. 19 shows a sequence flowchart of the processing operation of the user PC 106 and live castingserver 150 when applying for this member registration. As shown in thisfigure, to apply for member registration, the user PC 106 connects tothe Internet 103 and sends a request for browsing a Web page to the livecasting server 150 (see FIG. 12) (step Sa1). When the user PC 106connects to the Internet 103, power to the user PC 106 is turned onfirstly and then the above-described application program is started.Then, by the user selecting the Web check mode, the screen as shown inFIG. 7A is displayed on the display section 124. In this Web check mode,the user enters a URL identifying the Web page of the live castingserver 150 to request for browsing.

[0138] When the user PC 106 sends a request for browsing a Web page tothe live casting server 150 in this way, the live casting server 150sends the Web page via the Internet 103 to the user PC 106 (step Sa2).The user PC 106 that has received the Web page sent displays the Webpage on the browser display screen 44 (step Sa3).

[0139] In the case of such a browsing request or Web page transmission,the user PC 106 and live casting server 150 carry out the followingoperation and processing. At first, when the user PC 106 enters the URLof the live casting server 150 and sends a browsing request, the browserdisplay screen 44 displays the top page of the Web page stored in thelive casting server 150 as shown in FIG. 13. The user clicks “Memberregistration” to apply for member registration. This makes the CPU 120of the user PC 106 send a request for browsing the Web page to apply formember registration to the live casting server 150 via the Internet 103.Then, the live casting server 150 sends the member registration Webpage. Upon receiving this, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 displays themember registration screen as shown in FIG. 20 on the browser displayscreen 44.

[0140] As shown in FIG. 20, the member registration screen shows thenames of the items to be entered for member registration and the entrycolumn for entering the item. This personal casting service provides theabove described function of the client PC 107, that is, two kinds ofmember registration: a general member who receives a service ofreceiving content by live distribution from the streaming server 102;and a premium member who can utilizes the service as a distributor whoperforms a live distribution in addition to the service of receiving thecontent. The member registration screen shows an input column 210 forgeneral/premium members and an input column 211 only for a premiummember.

[0141] In this display screen, the user who registers as a generalmember like the user of the client PC 107, enters items of the inputcolumn 210. The member registration input screen displays a Cancelbutton 212 that cancels the contents entered, and an Enter button 213 toregister with the content entered and when the user clicks the Enterbutton 213, the CPU 120 sends the contents entered in the input column210 as registration information to the live casting server 150 via theInternet 103.

[0142] On the other hand, when the user registers as a premium member,the user checks the checkbox and enters items of the input column 210and input column 211. When the user completes entries of these items andclicks on the Enter button 213, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 creates aregistration information file having the same contents as that enteredin the above member registration input screen and sends this to the livecasting server 150 via the Internet 103 (step Sa4) and at the same timewrites and stores the registration information file in the hard disk 123in the user PC 106.

[0143] The live casting server 150 receives the registration informationfile created according to the contents entered of the user of the userPC 106 over the Internet 103 as described above, checks the contents ofthe registration information file received and decides whether to allowit to be registered (step Sa5). The processing contents is as follows.At first, when there is no information on any item, that is, the userhas entered nothing in the item, etc., the user PC 106 is informed ofthis and urged to reenter. Furthermore, the live casting server 150accesses a credit check server of a credit company via the Internet 103to check whether the credit card in the registration information file isvalid, and permits the registration only when the credit card is valid.

[0144] When the registration is permitted, the live casting server 150writes the information of the items in the registration information filein the user database 152 to carry out the registration processing (stepSa6). Furthermore, in the premium member registration processing, thelive casting server 150 creates a “My channel” Web page corresponding tothe registered user and stores in the hard disk.

[0145] When this registration processing is completed, the live castingserver 150 notifies the user PC 106 over the Internet 103 that theregistration processing has been completed (step Sa7) and the memberregistration processing is completed. B-2. Distribution reservation

[0146] When the above described member registration processing iscompleted, the user of the user PC 106 can become a distributor whocarries out a live distribution using the personal casting service andmakes a reservation for a distribution to the live casting server 150 toactually carry out the live distribution. In this personal castingservice, a reservation is established by the user making a reservationfor registration to the live casting server 150 and reconfirming thereservation to the live casting server 150 by a predetermined timebefore the reserved live distribution time (e.g., six hours before).Obliging the user who made the reservation to reconfirm the reservationpromotes the fulfillment and establishment of reservations and reducesfictitious reservations. Furthermore, this personal casting service setsa maximum number of frames (e.g., one frame corresponds to ten minutes)that a registered user can reserve a month and this prevents some usersfrom monopolizing this service.

[0147] B-2-1. Reservation Registration

[0148] Hereinafter, the processing operation by the user PC 106 and thelive casting server 150 when reservation registration is performed insuch a distribution reservation will be explained with reference to FIG.21 that shows a sequence flow chart of the processing operation anddisplay screens, etc. of the user PC 106.

[0149] As shown in FIG. 21, when a distribution reservation is made, theuser turns on the power to the user PC 106 and starts the aforementionedapplication program. Then, the user selects the live reservation mode toopen the screen shown in FIG. 8A on the display section 124. In thislive reservation mode, the user operates the operation dial 126 b, etc.to select/determine “Jump for reservation”, which is a selection item ofthe GUI. This allows the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 to connect theInternet 103 and requests for browsing of the Web page to make areservation for a distribution (Web page of the time when “Livedistribution reservation” in FIG. 13 is clicked) to the live castingserver 150 (step Sb1). In this way, the user PC 106 can request forbrowsing of the Web page to make a reservation for a distribution byselecting/determining “Jump for reservation” using the function of theapplication program above, but the user PC 106 can also request forbrowsing of the Web page by entering a URL. More specifically, the userPC 106 can request for browsing of the Web page by entering a URL torequest for browsing of the homepage shown in FIG. 13, logging in withthe user ID and password entered and clicking the link button of “Livedistribution reservation”.

[0150] Once the user PC 106 requests for browsing the Web page fordistribution reservation to the live casting server 150, the Web page issent from the live casting server 150 to the user PC 106 over theInternet 103 (step Sb2). The user PC 106 that has received the Web pageshows the Web page on the browser display screen 44 (step Sb3).

[0151]FIG. 22 shows a Web page for distribution reservation displayed onthe browser display screen 44. As shown in this figure, this displayscreen shows a monthly calendar column 220, a reservation situationdisplay column 221 that shows the reservation situation on the dateexpressed in outline characters on a colored background on the calendar,a reservation input column 222 that shows items to be entered by theuser to make a reservation and the input field, a reservation button 223to instruct an application for a reservation and a cancel button 224 tocancel the inputted contents of the reservation input column 222.

[0152] On this display screen, the user clicks a desired date forreservation in the monthly calendar column 220. This allows the CPU 120of the user PC 106 to instruct to display the clicked date in outlinecharacters on a colored background on the calendar and request the livecasting server 150 over the Internet 103 to display the reservationsituation of the date. Upon reception of this request, the live castingserver 150 creates the data to display the reservation situation of thedate at this time by referring to the registered contents of thereservation database 151 and sends the data to display the reservationsituation of the requested date to the user PC 106 over the Internet103. The CPU 120 of the user PC 106 displays the reservation situationdisplay column 221 based on this data.

[0153] As illustrated, the reservation situation display column 221displays the capacity of distribution, transmission band used, servicefee, reservation situation per time (“Free” or “Reserved”) for eachchannel and the user determines the channel and time zone, etc. andenters items of the reservation input column 222 with reference to thisreservation situation display column 221. The capacity of distribution,the transmission band to be used and the service fee are set for eachchannel beforehand and the user of the user PC 106, who is a contentdistributor, can select a channel that matches the desired service feeand capacity, etc. by referring to the preset information for eachchannel displayed in the reservation situation display column 221.

[0154] The items to be entered in the reservation input column 222 are“channel” to select a channel to be used, “reservation date/time” tospecify the date/time of reservation, “open level”, “title” to enter thetitle of the content, “genre” to enter the genre to which the contentbelong, “open of e-mail” to select whether to open the e-mail address ofthe content provider, “Open of Web” to select whether to open the URL ofthe Web page of the content provider, “password” to enter a password,“friend list”, “outline” to write an outline of the content in up to apredetermined number of characters (e.g., 20 characters) and “detail” towrite the detail of the content in up to a predetermined number ofcharacters (e.g., 200 characters).

[0155] The input item “open level” in the reservation input column 222is the item indicating the open level of content distribute based onthis reservation, that is, an item specified by the user who is acontent provider to restrict the users of the content, and it ispossible to specify one of three levels “Public”, “Password” and“Secret” here. “Public” specifies that the contents are totally openedand when “Public” is specified, users who have registered as generalmembers can receive the content by the content distribution based on thereservation (however, should be within the capacity). “Password”restricts users who can receive the content based on the reservation andis the open level in which only allows the users who can enter a validpassword to receive content. When the user selects “Password”, the userneeds to enter a password to be used when content is received.

[0156] Then, “Secret” is also the open level in which the users who haveentered a valid password can receive content as in the case of“Password”. When the user selects “Secret”, too, the user needs to entera password to be used. When “Password” or “Secret” is selected,information on the distribution time of the program and the password,etc. is sent to the e-mail addresses specified in “friend list” whichwill be described later.

[0157] Furthermore, “Password” and “Secret” are the same in that bothallow content to be supplied to only specific users, but different inthat when “Password” is selected, the program based on this reservationis included in the Web pages of “Today's live” and “Program guide”,while in the case of “Secret”, the program is not shown on the Web pagesand the fact that the content will be distributed is not opened. When“Secret” is selected, the fact that the content will be distributed issent only to those who have e-mail addresses included in the “Friendlist” which will be described later.

[0158] The user can select any one of the three open levels “Public”,“Password” and “Secret” taking into account the content to bedistributed. For example, when the user wants to perform a contentdistribution to a specific few people, it is desirable to select achannel with small capacity (inexpensive) from the economicalstandpoint, but if this is opened to all people, and a distributionrequest is made from people other than the specific people, the specificpeople may not receive the content distribution because of the capacityrestriction. Therefore, in this case, selecting “Password” or “Secret”makes it possible to perform content distribution to specific peoplereliably and economically.

[0159] The input item “Friend list” in the reservation input column 222is the column to enter e-mail addresses of people who the user of theuser PC 106 wants to be notified that the content will be distributed ina time zone and with a channel based on the reservation. The livecasting server 150 sends e-mail including various kinds of informationto receive the content based on the relevant reservation, to the enterede-mail addresses, which will be described later.

[0160] When the entries of the items of the reservation input column 222are completed and the reservation button 223 is clicked, the CPU 120 ofthe user PC 106 creates a desired reservation information file with thesame contents as the inputted contents of the reservation input column222 and sends this desired reservation information file to the livecasting server 150 over the Internet 103 (step Sb4). In the exampleshown in FIG. 22, the user inputs characters, etc. in each column of thereservation input column 222 using the keyboard, etc., but for the itemswith predetermined contents such as “channel”, “reservation date/time”and “genre”, the user may display a pull-down menu showing a list ofcandidates and select/specify an item from the displayed candidates.

[0161] The live casting server 150 receives the desired reservationinformation file created according to the contents inputted by the userof the user PC 106 over the Internet 103 and sends a Web page toreconfirm whether the content of the received desired reservationinformation file is acceptable (step Sb5). In this way, the displayscreen of the user PC 106 shows a display prompting to confirm thedesired reservation information as shown in FIG. 23. In this case, thedisplay screen also shows the service fee of the service based on thereservation, the e-mail address of the sender of the reservation settinginformation to be sent from the live casting server 150 to the user PC106 later (this e-mail address is the e-mail address entered by the userat the time of member registration), etc, for confirmation. Moreover, asdescribed above, the user who reserved the live distribution is obligedto reconfirm the reservation a predetermined time before thedistribution time (e.g., six hours before) based on the reservation andthe display screen also shows messages to notify the user of this andhow to reconfirm.

[0162] When the user agrees to the contents displayed on theconfirmation screen, then the user clicks on the Agree button 240 andwhen the user does not agree to the contents displayed on theconfirmation screen, then the user clicks on the Cancel button 241. Oncethe Cancel button 241 is clicked, this intention is sent to the livecasting server 150, and the live casting server 150 * * discards thedesired reservation information file and displays a reservation inputscreen shown in FIG. 22 on the display screen of the user PC 106 andprompts for a reentry. On the other hand, when the Agree button 240 isclicked, the CPU 120 sends this intention to the live casting server 150over the Internet 103 (step Sb6).

[0163] When the Agree button 240 is clicked, the live casting server 150checks the contents of the desired reservation information file andjudges whether the reservation should be permitted (step Sb7). The livecasting server 150 checks whether the inputted contents are sufficientand confirms whether there is any free space in the desired reservationtime zone of the desired channel and further checks whether the user whorequested the reservation has made a reservation exceeding the setnumber of frames. More specifically, it has already been mentioned abovethat this live casting service sets the maximum number of frames (e.g.,one frame corresponds to ten minutes) that each registered user canreserve a month. Therefore, in checking as to whether the reservationshould be permitted, it is judged whether the number of frames alreadyreserved by the user for one month exceeds the set number of frames, andif it exceeds the set number of frames, the reservation is notpermitted. On the other hand, if the number of frames already reservedby the user for that month is smaller than the set number of frames, itis judged that the check result has no problem and if other checkresults have no problem, the reservation is permitted. In this way, inorder to check the number of frames reserved by the user for one month,the user database 152 stores the reservation situation from at least onemonth ago until the present day for each user registered as a premiummember.

[0164] When a reservation is permitted, the live casting server 150creates a reservation ID only used for authentication of the time whenthe reserved distribution is executed based on the reservation andwrites and registers the reservation time zone, channel to be used, bandto be used (bit per second (bps)), reservation content informationincluding mail addresses of the friend list, etc., user ID to identifythe user who has reserved and the created reservation ID, in thereservation database 151 (see FIG. 18) based on the contents of thedesired reservation information file (step Sb8). By the way, at the timeof this reservation registration, the billing flag informationindicating whether billing is possible indicates that billing is “notpossible” and when a reconfirmation is made and the reservation isestablished later, this billing flag is rewritten as “possible”.Moreover, the live casting server 150 adds and writes the information onthe reservation to the Web page of “my channel” corresponding to theuser who made the reservation. Furthermore if the open level in thereservation is “Public” or “Password”, the live casting server 150updates the Web page to include the program based on this reservation onthe Web pages of “Today's live” and “Program guide”. That is, theinformation that the content distribution based on the reservation willbe performed is stored as information that can be browsed. In this case,it is possible to browse the Web page with the client terminal apparatus107, etc. over the Internet 103 and know that the live distribution willbe performed based on the reservation. That is, not only when “Public”is set but also when “Password” is set, it is possible to browse the Webpage including the information that the live distribution based on thereservation will be performed and any third party can know that the livedistribution exists. On the other hand, when “Secret” is set, the livecasting server 150 does not include any information on the livedistribution to be carried out based on this reservation, on the Webpages of “Today's live” and “Program guide”. Therefore, for the livedistribution with “Secret”, only specific people who have receivede-mail transmitted which will be described later and who have browsedare allowed to know that the live distribution will be performed.

[0165] Once such reservation registration processing is completed, a Webpage urging the user to agree to the copyright control and prohibitions,etc. when the service is used is sent to the user PC 106 and displayedon the display screen of the user PC 106. Then, upon reception ofagreement from the user PC 106, the live casting server 150 sends a Webpage informing of the completion of the reservation procedure exceptreconfirmation to the user PC 106. FIG. 24 shows a reservation procedurecompletion screen displayed on the display screen of the user PC 106. Asshown in this figure, this reservation procedure completion screendisplays a message urging the user to reconfirm. If the “OK” button 245is clicked, the reservation procedure except reconfirmation is completedand hereinafter, the live casting server 150 sends an e-mail about thereservation including the reservation ID created, to the user PC 106(step Sb9).

[0166] B-2-2. Reconfirmation

[0167] As described above, this personal casting service requires theuser to reconfirm the reservation six hours before the reserveddistribution is executed and if the user fails to reconfirm, thereservation is forcibly canceled. Therefore, the user who has acquiredthe reservation ID via an e-mail from the live casting server 150 mustreconfirm the reservation using the user PC 106 to ensure thereservation. The reservation procedure until the reservation ID above isreceived can be done using a PC different from a PC to be used for thelive distribution, but the PC used for live distribution must be the PCused for reconfirmation. The following explanation assumes that areconfirmation will be made using the user PC 106. The processingoperations by the user PC 106 and live casting server 150 when areconfirmation is made will be explained with reference to FIG. 25.

[0168] When making a reconfirmation, the user turns ON the power to theuser PC 106 and starts the application program (when power is OFF).Then, the user selects a live reservation mode to display the screenshown in FIG. 8A on the display section 124. In this live reservationmode, the user operates the operation dial 126 b, etc. toselect/determine the reservation to be reconfirmed from the reservationlist (it may include only one item) displayed in the reservation listarea 46. Then, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 connects to the Internet103 and sends a request for browsing the Web page “My channel”corresponding to the user to the live casting server 150 (step Sb10). Inthis way, the user PC 106 can send a request for browsing the Web pageto make a reservation for distribution using the function provided bythe application program. The request for browsing the Web page can alsobe sent by entering a URL. More specifically, the request for browsingthe Web page can be sent by entering a URL to send a request forbrowsing the homepage shown in FIG. 13, entering the user ID andpassword to log in and clicking the link button of “My channel”.

[0169] When a request for browsing the “My channel” Web page is sentfrom the user PC 106 to the live casting server 150 in this way, thelive casting server 150 sends the Web page to the user PC 106 over theInternet 103 (step Sb11). Upon reception of the Web page sent, the userPC 106 displays the Web page on the browser display screen 44 (stepSb12).

[0170]FIG. 26 shows the “My channel” Web page displayed on the browserdisplay screen 44. As shown in this figure, this display screen shows areservation list 250, which is a list of reservations currently made bythe user to the live casting server 150, a link button 251 to jump tothe Web page to check the number of audiences of the program distributedby the user in the past, etc. and a link button 252 to jump to the Webpage to modify the registration information file (see FIG. 20) of theuser registered in the user database 152. This display screen alsoincludes descriptions of the method of canceling or modifying areservation, and this personal casting service requires the user tocancel the reservation if the user changes the reservation contents suchas the channel or date/time, and then to take necessary steps to make adistribution reservation again, and this process is described in thisdisplay screen. On the other hand, items including the title andoutline, other than the channel and date/time, can be changed withoutcanceling the reservation.

[0171] The reservation list 250 shows for each reservation “reservationdate/time”, “channel”, “title”, a status item indicating whether thisreservation is “waiting for a reconfirmation” or “reconfirmed”, and the“cancel” button to be clicked when the reservation is cancelled (onereservation in the figure).

[0172] If no reconfirmation of the reservation has been made yet,“waiting for reconfirmation” is displayed in the status item as shown inthe figure and if this page is opened after a reconfirmation of thereservation has been made, “reconfirmed” is displayed. In the case of“waiting for reconfirmation”, if this is clicked, the CPU 120 sends arequest for browsing the reconfirmation screen to the live castingserver 150 over the Internet 103. In response to this request, the livecasting server 150 sends the reconfirmation Web page to the user PC 106over the Internet 103 and the screen shown in FIG. 27 appears on theuser PC 106.

[0173] As shown in this figure, the reconfirmation screen displayscontents of items including “user ID”, “channel”, “reservationdate/time”, “open level”, “title”, “genre”, “open of e-mail”, “open ofWeb”, “password”, “friend list”, “outline” and “detail”, set inreservation. This display screen further shows the column for entering areservation ID and a message urging the user to enter a reservation IDand make a reconfirmation.

[0174] To reconfirm the reservation, the user enters the reservation IDincluded in the e-mail sent from the live casting server 150 in thereservation procedure described above and clicks on the reconfirmationbutton 261. On the other hand, to go back to the “my channel” screenincluding the reservation list 250, etc. (see FIG. 26), the user clickson the Return button 262.

[0175] Here, when the reconfirmation button 261 is clicked on thereconfirmation display screen in FIG. 27, setting information toestablish communication/connection with the streaming server 102 in thelive distribution is automatically set in the PC and a message isdisplayed prompting to make a reconfirmation on the corresponding PC,that is, the PC which will carry out the live distribution.

[0176] When the reconfirmation button 261 is clicked, the CPU 120 of theuser PC 106 informs the live casting server 150 of this reconfirmationover the Internet 103 (step Sb13).

[0177] As described above, the live casting server 150 that has receivedthe reconfirmation sent from the user PC 106 refers to the reservationdatabase 151 and user database 152 and creates a reservation settinginformation file shown in FIG. 28 on this reservation (step Sb14). Outof the information about each reservation registered in the reservationdatabase 151, the live casting server 150 erases the data about thereservation from the reservation database 151 after six hours before thedistribution start time based on the reservation and cancels thereservation. That is, the reservation-related data is erased from thereservation database 151 six hours before the distribution start time.Therefore, if the live casting server 150 receives the reconfirmationafter six hours before the distribution start time, the data about thereservation no longer exist even if the reservation database 151 isreferenced. In this case, the live casting server 150 sends a Web pageposting a message Reservation has been canceled because reconfirmationis not executed. To make a reservation, please redo the distributionreservation procedure”, etc. to the user PC 106.

[0178] On the other hand, if the live casting server 150 receives thereconfirmation by six hours before the distribution start time, the livecasting server 150 creates reservation setting information. As shown inFIG. 28, the reservation setting information file created by the livecasting server 150 includes “reservation ID”, “live distributionreservation date/time”, “server accessible time”, “access telephonenumber”, “access server information”, “address information fordistribution request”, “transmission band”, “title”, “outline”, “openlevel”, “friend list address information” and “distribution requestpassword”. “Reservation ID” describes the reservation ID created aboutthe reservation, “live distribution reservation date/time” describes thereserved distribution start time and end time. “Server accessible time”describes the time zone during which access to the streaming server 102is permitted to carry out a live distribution. This example describesthat access to the streaming server 102 is permitted from three minutesbefore the distribution start time until three minutes after thedistribution end time.

[0179] “Access telephone number” describes the telephone numbers ofaccess ports of the dedicated server connection network 108 to connectto the streaming server 102 and this example describes the telephonenumbers of access ports of a plurality (four in this figure) carriers.In the procedure for actual connection to the streaming server 102,which will be described later, the user selects any one of carriers tocarry out processing of making a call to the telephone number of theaccess port for the selected carrier.

[0180] “Access server information” describes items determined accordingto the channel selected in this reservation such as “type of server”connected when the channel is used, “server name”, “connection port”,“stream path for server”, etc. When a communication/connection betweenthe user PC 106 and the access port of the dedicated server connectionnetwork 108 is established, the connection processing to use the channelreserved by the streaming server 102 is carried out based on thedescription of this “access server information”.

[0181] “Address information for distribution request” describes URLinformation used by the client PC 107 to connect to the streaming server102 when the client PC 107 requests a stream distribution of thecontents to be sent by the user PC 106 to the streaming server 102. Whena distribution of the content is requested, it is possible to allow theclient PC 107 to connect to the streaming server 102 using the URL overthe Internet 103.

[0182] “Transmission band” describes information which is determinedaccording to the reserved channel and describes information on thetransmission band such as 64 kbps and 28.8 kbps, preset in the reservedchannel. “Title”, “outline” and “open level” each describes the contentsregistered at the time of reservation (see FIG. 22 and FIG. 23). “Friendlist address information” describes e-mail addresses registered at thetime of reservation.

[0183] “Distribution request password” also describes the passwordinformation registered at the time of reservation. If “open level” is“Public”, the distribution requesting side can request a distributionwithout entering a password and in this case, the information of“distribution request password” is not included in the reservationsetting information file.

[0184] Thus, the reservation setting information file created by thelive casting server 150 includes information including the reservationID used for authentication of the time of connection to the streamingserver 102, which will be described later, the telephone number andconnection port of the server, etc. to establish acommunication/connection with the streaming server 102. The reservationsetting information file is sent from the live casting server 150 to theuser PC 106 over the Internet 103. In this case, the reservation settinginformation file contains command information for automatically writingand incorporating the reservation setting information file into apredetermined area created in the hard disk 123 of the user PC 106 andcommand information for instructing the display of a message notifyingthat the automatic incorporation has ended normally or failed. As atechnology for automatically incorporating a file sent from the livecasting server 150, the distributor, to the user PC 106, the receiver,the technology of “ActiveX” (registered trademark of MicrosoftCorporation) can be used. When using this technology, the user PC 106needs to use “Internet Explorer” (Microsoft Corporation) which can use“ActiveX” as the browser software.

[0185] The live casting server 150 that has created the reservationsetting information file in the form of text data, etc. including thevarious kinds of data and commands above encrypts this file using anencryption system such as data encryption standard (DES), etc. and sendsthis encryption file together with the Web page that displays thereconfirmation completion screen to the user PC 106 over the Internet103 (step Sb15).

[0186] As described above, when the live casting server 150 sends theencrypted reservation setting information file and Web page, the CPU 120of the user PC 106 receives this and decrypts the reservation settinginformation file using the technology of “ActiveX”, automatically takesit in a predetermined area of the hard disk 123 according to the commandincluded in the file (step Sb16) and shows the reconfirmation completionscreen on the browser display screen 44 (step Sb17). Therefore, the userPC 106 stores a program to decrypt the above encryption to execute thisprogram when encrypting the reservation setting information file.Furthermore, when the CPU 120 writes the reservation setting informationfile in a predetermined area, the user PC 106 has a program to encryptand write the file according to a predetermined encryption system (DES,etc.) and by executing this program, the reservation setting informationfile is encrypted and saved. Therefore, normally, the user is notallowed to display and refer to the contents of the automaticallyincorporated reservation setting information file. This prevents theaccess port numbers of the dedicated server connection network 108 frombeing unnecessarily opened to many people and prevents illegal accessesto the access ports of the dedicated server connection network 108 withan intention of interfering with this service.

[0187] Here, FIG. 29 shows the reconfirmation completion screendisplayed on the browser display screen 44. As shown in this figure,this screen shows the current time of the service provider side and thetime of the user PC 106. The time of the service provider side is thetime information acquired from the NTP server 153 when the live castingserver 150 sends the Web page. On the other hand, the time of the userPC 106 shows the current time based on the clock of the user PC 106.Then, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 calculates the difference betweenthese times (in units of minutes) and if there is any difference, showsa message about the presence of the difference as shown in the figure.In this way, it is possible to notify the user of the user PC 106 of thetime difference from the service provider to call attention, or it isalso possible to store a time correction program to automaticallycorrect the time of the user PC 106 based on the time information of theservice provider side sent together with the Web page in the user PC 106and when the user PC 106 receives the reconfirmation completion screenWeb page as shown above, to correct the time of the user PC 106 based onthe time of the service provider side by the CPU 120 executing the timecorrection program. This allows the service provider side and the userPC 106 to have the same time, thus making it possible to smoothly carryforward the service of live distribution, which requires the accuracy intime.

[0188] Furthermore, the reconfirmation completion screen describes thespecial item to access the dedicated server connection network 108 usinga dialup router. When executing processing of communication/connectionwith the streaming server 102 to execute a live distribution, the userPC 106 is set to automatically call the access telephone number to theaccess port of the dedicated server connection network 108 described inthe reservation setting information file above (details will be givenlater). In this way, by the CPU 120 executing the program for automaticcalling, the user can automatically carry out communication/connectionprocessing without carrying out troublesome input operation such asentering telephone numbers. However, when the user PC 106 is connectedto the network via a dialup router, it is necessary to set theinformation to be connected to the dedicated server connection network108 via the dialup router. Thus, since it is not possible to performprocessing of automatical calling based on the telephone numberdescribed in reservation setting information file, it is necessary forthe user to manually set the telephone number, etc. of the access port.The special item is a description taking into account the necessity ofmanual setting when this dialup router is used and in this case, theaccess port number, login ID (reservation ID in this case) and passwordto be manually set by the user are displayed. In the example illustratedabove, connection using the dialup router is only permitted forconnection via the ISDN, but the present invention is not limited tothis.

[0189] When the user clicks the “OK” button 291 by confirming thedisplay of the confirmation screen, the CPU 120 sends information thatthe “OK” button 291 has been clicked to the live casting server 150 overthe Internet 103 (step Sb18) and the reconfirmation-related processingon the user side completes. On the other hand, the live casting server150 that receives the information that the “OK” button 291 has beenclicked refers to the reservation database 151 and sends an e-mailnotifying that there is a live distribution to the e-mail addressesregistered in the “friend list” of the reservation (step Sb19). FIG. 30shows the contents displayed on the display screen of the PC when thee-mail is opened. As shown in this figure, this e-mail shows informationincluding “live distribution date/time”, “title”, “outline”, “URL fordistribution request” (see “address information for distributionrequest” in FIG. 28), “password” to request a distribution when the openlevel is “Password” or “Secret” (see “Distribution request password” inFIG. 28). If the user of the user PC 106 registers e-mail addresses offriends, etc. to whom the user wants the live distribution to bepresented, at the time of reservation, the friends are automaticallyinformed of the information for receiving distribution. Thus, thiseliminates the necessity for the user who performs the live distributionto carry out a troublesome operation such as transmitting theinformation to receive live distribution by telephone or creating ane-mail including the relevant information.

[0190] In the above explanation, the processing of sending the e-mail(see FIG. 30) to the e-mail addresses registered in the “friend list” isperformed after the reconfirmation is completed, but transmission of thee-mail can also be performed by the live casting server 150 when theprocessing of registering the reservation in the reservation database151 based on the reservation request file from the user (step Sb8 inFIG. 21) is completed. If an e-mail is sent at the time of completion ofthe reservation registration processing, those who have e-mail addressescan know earlier that there is a live distribution. In this case, it isalso possible to perform similar e-mail transmission processing again atthe time of completion of the reconfirmation.

[0191] In addition to sending e-mail as described above, when thereconfirmation-related processing finishes, the live casting server 150assumes that the reservation has been established, rewrites the billingflag information of the reservation database 151 about this reservationto “enabled” and performs billing processing about the reservation. Thebilling amount is i calculated based on the service fee preset for eachchannel as described above. For example, when a reservation of using sixframes in a channel for which a service fee of ¥100 per one frame (tenminutes) is set is established, ¥600 is billed for the reservation.However, the actual billing processing is executed after confirming thatthe streaming server 102 is operating on the day of live distributionwithout problems.

[0192] The aforementioned explanation describes the case where the userPC 106 is used which stores the program for encrypting and automaticallystoring the reservation setting information file sent from the livecasting server 150, but the PC that does not store such a program cannot automatically take in the file. In such a case, the followingtechnique is used to take in the reservation setting information fileinto the PC. At first, in the case of a PC that does not store theprogram and thus can not automatically take in the file, the informationthat automatic taking-in processing has failed is displayed on thedisplay screen of the PC. In addition to a message indicating thefailure, another message appears on the same screen which instructs theuser to return to the “my channel” (see FIG. 26) screen and click “waitfor reconfirmation” to request for browsing the reconfirmation screenagain. On the other hand, after sending the Web page indicating that theaforementioned reconfirmation has been completed to the user PC 106,when the live casting server 150 receives no reconfirmation “OK” fromthe user PC 106 and receives a request for a reconfirmation screen fromthe user PC 106, it judges that the user PC 106 has failed toautomatically read the reservation setting information file and sends aWeb page for downloading the reservation setting information file to theuser PC 106 over the Internet 103. As a result, the display screen onthe PC side shows a button for downloading the reservation settinginformation file, and clicking this button starts downloading of thereservation setting information file.

[0193] This is the flow of the distribution reservation processingoperation from the issuing of a reservation request to the establishmentof the reservation made by the completion of a reconfirmation. In thisway, even after a reconfirmation is completed, the information such asgenre and outline can be changed and the reservation can still becanceled even after the reconfirmation is completed (in this case, thebilling processing is performed because the billing flag informationabove is “enabled”). The processing operation when such a change orcancellation is made will be explained below with reference to thedisplay contents of the browser display screen 44 displayed on thedisplay section 124 of the user PC 106.

[0194] At first, when a reconfirmed reservation is changed or canceled,an operation to request for browsing the Web page corresponding to “Mychannel” is performed in the same way as the operation for thereconfirmation. Thus, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 carries outprocessing for connecting to the Internet 103 and requests the livecasting server 150 for browsing the “My channel” web page correspondingto the user.

[0195] When the user PC 106 requests the live casting server 150 forbrowsing the “My channel” Web page, the live casting server 150 sendsthe Web page to the user PC 106 over the Internet 103. Upon reception ofthe Web page sent, the user PC 106 displays the Web page on the browserdisplay screen 44.

[0196]FIG. 31 shows the reconfirmed “My channel” Web page displayed onthe browser display screen 44. When compared with the display screen(see FIG. 26) of “My channel” waiting for a reconfirmation, thereconfirmed “My channel” display screen differs in that “reconfirmed” isdisplayed in the status item of the reservation list 250 and a “change”link button 310 is displayed.

[0197] To make a change, this “change” link button 310 is clicked. Whenthe “change” link button 310 is clicked, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106sends information that the “change” link button has been clicked, to thelive casting server 150 over the Internet 103. In response to this, thelive casting server 150 sends a Web page for the change to the user PC106 over the Internet 103 and as a result, the browser display screen 44of the user PC 106 displays the screen shown in FIG. 32.

[0198] As shown in this figure, the change screen shows the currentlyset reservation contents and the items “genre”, “open of e-mail”, “openof Web”, “password”, “outline” and “detail” of these display contentscan be changed, and these are displayed in a different color from thatof items that cannot be changed (reservation date/time, etc.).

[0199] The user overwrites the currently displayed setting contents withnew contents and clicks the Update button 321. If the contents are notchanged, the user clicks the Return button 322.

[0200] Then, when the user clicks the Update button 321, the CPU 120 ofthe user PC 106 creates an information file with the changed contentsand sends this to the live casting server 150 over the Internet 103.Thus, the live casting server 150 updates the registration contents ofthe reservation database 151 based on the information file with thechanged contents and sends the Web page of the changed screen to theuser PC 106 over the Internet 103. As a result, the browser displayscreen 44 displays the screen shown in FIG. 33.

[0201] As shown in this figure, in addition to a message stating thatthe change has been accepted, the change completion screen shows thetime of the service provider side, the time of the user PC 106 side andthe time difference between them and special items when the dialuprouter is used, in the same way as for the reconfirmation completionscreen above (see FIG. 30). Clicking on the “OK” button 331 completesthe change and returns to the “My channel” screen shown in FIG. 31.

[0202] When the reservation is changed in this way, the live castingserver 150 sends an e-mail including the information that thereservation has been changed and the changed contents, etc. to thee-mail addresses registered in the friend list. Thus, it is possible toautomatically inform those who have the e-mail addresses of the friendlist in the reservation changed contents for live distribution, withoutthe need for the user of the user PC 106 to inform by telephone that thereservation contents for live distribution has been changed or to createan e-mail including such a message.

[0203] Next, the case where a reservation is canceled will be explained.As in the case of changing a reconfirmation as described above, theoperation for requesting for browsing a Web page corresponding to “Mychannel” is performed. Thus, the browser display screen 44 shows thereconfirmed “My channel” screen shown in FIG. 31.

[0204] To cancel a reservation, the user clicks the “Cancel” link button311. When the “Cancel” link button 311 is clicked, the CPU 120 of theuser PC 106 sends the information that the “Cancel” link button has beenclicked, to the live casting server 150 over the Internet 103. Inresponse to this, the live casting server 150 sends a Web page for thecancellation to the user PC 106 over the Internet 103 and as a result,the browser display screen 44 of the user PC 106 displays thecancellation screen shown in FIG. 34.

[0205] As shown in this figure, the cancellation screen shows thecurrently set reservation contents and a “reservation cancellation”button 341 and “Return” button 342. The user clicks the “Reservationcancellation” button 341 to cancel the reservation and clicks the“Return” button 342 otherwise.

[0206] Then, when the user clicks the “Reservation cancel” button 341,the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 sends the information that thereservation will be canceled, to the live casting server 150 over theInternet 103. Thus, the live casting server 150 erases the registrationcontents in the reservation database 151 and sends the Web page of thecancellation completion screen to the user PC 106 over the Internet 103.As a result, the browser display screen 44 of the user PC 106 displays amessage shown in FIG. 35 notifying that the reservation has beencanceled. When the user clicks the “OK” button 343, cancellation iscompleted and the “My channel” screen in FIG. 31 appears.

[0207] When the reservation is canceled in this way, the live castingserver 150 sends e-mail including information that the reservation hasbeen canceled and live distribution will not carried out, to the e-mailaddresses registered in the friend list above. Thus, it is possible toautomatically inform people who have the e-mail addresses that livedistribution will not performed, without the need for the user of theuser PC 106 to inform by telephone that live distribution will notperformed or to create e-mail including such a message.

[0208] Furthermore, if the user wants to confirm the reservationcontents after the reconfirmation above has been made, the user clicksthe “Reconfirmed” button shown on the screen in FIG. 31. When the“Reconfirmed” button is clicked, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 sendsthe information to the live casting server 150 over the Internet 103. Inresponse to this, the live casting server 150 sends the Web page forconfirming the reconfirmed reservation to the user PC 106 over theInternet 103. As a result, the browser display screen 44 of the user PC106 shows the currently set reservation contents, special items when thedialup router is used, a “Reenter PC connection setting” button 361 anda “Return” button 362 instructing a return to the “My channel” screen.

[0209] If the “Reenter PC connection setting” button 361 is clicked, theCPU 120 of the user PC 106 sends the information to the live castingserver 150 over the Internet 103. In response to this, the live castingserver 150 sends the reservation setting information file (see FIG. 29)to the user PC 106 over the Internet 103 again. As a result, the user PC106 automatically takes in the reservation setting information file.Retransmission of this reservation setting information file can beperformed when a PC different from the PC used to make a reconfirmationis used to perform the live distribution, etc.

[0210] B-3. Live Distribution

[0211] When the distribution reservation including the abovereconfirmation is completed and the time for starting the reserved livedistribution comes, the user of the user PC 106 connects to thestreaming server 102 via the dedicated server connection network 108 andperforms a live distribution of the content. Then, the client PC 107receives the content by requesting for the stream distribution of thecontent.

[0212] B-3-1. Content Transmission From User PC to Streaming Server

[0213] The processing operations by the user PC 106, the dedicatedserver connection network 108, the database server 155 (see FIG. 12) andthe streaming server 102 when the user PC 106 sends content to thestreaming server 102 by live distribution will be explained withreference to FIG. 37 showing a sequence flow chart of the processingoperation.

[0214] When a live distribution is performed, connection to thestreaming server 102 is permitted from five minutes before the starttime of the reserved live distribution, and so the processing toestablish communication/connection between the user PC 106 and thestreaming server 102 will be started at this time. The user preparescontent distribution before the start time of the live distribution. Thepreparation for the content distribution includes the determination ofthe photographing position of the digital video camera 129 (see FIG. 3),effect setting processing in live distribution mode based on the conceptof the contents to be distributed (see FIG. 10 and FIG. 11), etc.

[0215] The user PC 106 of this embodiment stores a program to display amessage “Live distribution will start soon” to the user a predeterminedtime before the reserved live distribution start time (e.g., ten minutesbefore) and as shown in FIG. 37, when the predetermined time before thestart time comes, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 executes this programto display the message “Live distribution will start soon” on thedisplay section 124 (step Sc1). This prevents the user from forgettingthe live distribution start time. Here, if the user PC 106 is not set tolive distribution mode in the aforementioned application, the CPU 120automatically executes this application program, automatically selectsthe live distribution mode in the application and displays the “Livedistribution mode” screen on the display section 124 (see FIG. 9A).

[0216] Then, when the time at which the start of connection to thestreaming server 102 is permitted (five minutes before the start time)comes, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 executes the connection processingprogram to automatically start the processing ofcommunication/connection with the streaming server 102. Thecommunication/connection processing started can be fully automated orthe user can only enter an instruction for the final connection start toautomatically execute the communication/connection processing using thisinput as a trigger.

[0217] The processing by the CPU 120 according to thecommunication/connection processing program decrypts the reservationsetting information file encrypted and stored in a predeterminedregistry (see FIG. 29) and carries out the followingcommunication/connection processing based on the information describedin the items “reservation ID” of this file, “server accessible time”,“access telephone number” and “access server information”.

[0218] When the accessible start time indicated by “server accessibletime” comes, the CPU 120 starts communication/connection processing,acquires the access port telephone number of the carrier preset by theuser by referring to the “access telephone number” of the reservationsetting information file and carries out processing for calling thetelephone number. The CPU 120 then sends the reservation ID to theaccess server of the dedicated server connection network 108 andrequests for communication/connection (step Sc2). Since the automaticcalling processing is carried out in this way, the user need not enterthe telephone number, etc. In the case of live distribution inparticular as described above, using the user PC 106 in the modes shownin FIG. 3B or FIG. 3C by entering information, etc. with the keyboard126 a is a very complicated operation, and therefore the processing ofautomatic calling provides the user with a more comfortable contentcreation environment.

[0219] In order to authenticate whether the user PC 106 that hasrequested for connection to the access port as described above belongsto a user who has a valid reservation, the access server of thededicated server connection network 108 sends the sent reservation ID tothe database server 155 of the server reservation control center 101(step Sc3). The database server 155 that has received the reservation IDsent from the dedicated server connection network 108 carries outauthentication processing by checking whether this reservation ID isregistered in the reservation database 151 in the time zone that startsat the current time (step Sc4). If the reservation ID sent is registeredin the reservation database 151, the access server judges that the userPC 106 that has sent this reservation ID has a valid reservation and ifthe reservation ID sent is not registered in the reservation database151 in that time zone, the access server judges that the user PC 106that has sent this reservation ID does not have a valid reservation.

[0220] In this authentication processing, only the reservation IDdescribed above is used. This has the following effect. For example,when the reservation is authenticated using the user ID and password ofeach member of this service, even if it is confirmed that the user IDand password are valid and it is the member who has accessed, it is notpossible to distinguish whether the member has a reservation in thattime zone. Therefore, in the authentication processing, it is necessaryto authenticate whether the user is a member, then to check theregistration content of the reservation and to check whether the memberidentified with the user ID has a reservation in the time zone, whichmakes the authentication processing very complicated. In contrast, ifthe reservation ID used only for authentication for the reservationdescribed above is used, this reservation ID is the information thatonly the user can know, and therefore there is no need to authenticatethe user ID and it is possible to distinguish whether the user has avalid reservation through the simple authentication processing ofchecking whether the reservation ID is registered for the reservationfor the time zone corresponding to the accessed time.

[0221] The database server 155 that has performed the authenticationprocessing using the reservation ID as described above sends thisauthentication result to the access server of the dedicated serverconnection network 108 (step Sc5).

[0222] When the authentication result from the database server 155 showsthat a user has a valid reservation, the access server of the dedicatedserver connection network 108 permits the connection between the user PC106 and the streaming server 102, which establishes a PPP connection andcommunication/connection between them (step Sc6). On the other hand, inthe case where the authentication result shows a user does not have avalid reservation, the access server of the dedicated server connectionnetwork 108 does not permit the connection between the user PC 106 andthe streaming server 102 and immediately cuts the call from the user PC106. Thus, by immediately cutting the call when it is judged that thecall is from an illegal user, the line is secured for users with a validreservation.

[0223] When connected to the streaming server 102 via the dedicatedserver connection network 108 as described above, the CPU 120 of theuser PC 106 sends a reservation ID to the streaming server 102 torequest for a live distribution (step Sc7).

[0224] The streaming server 102 that has received the live distributionrequest from the user PC 106 sends the sent reservation ID to thedatabase server 155 of the server reservation control center 101 toauthenticate whether the user PC 106 that has requested for the livedistribution shows that a user has a valid reservation (step Sc8). Thus,the database server 155 that has received the reservation ID sent fromthe streaming server 102 carries out authentication processing bychecking whether this reservation ID is registered in the reservationdatabase 151 for the time zone that starts from the current time (stepSc9). This authentication processing is similar to that when areservation ID is sent from the access server of the dedicated serverconnection network 108.

[0225] The database server 155 that has carried out authenticationprocessing using the reservation ID as described above sends thisauthentication result to the streaming server 102 (step Sc10).

[0226] In the case where the authentication result from the databaseserver 155 shows that a user has a valid reservation, the streamingserver 102 permits a live distribution by the user PC 106 and informsthe user PC 106 of this permission (step Sc11), acquires information forthe reservation from the reservation database 151 (reservation timezone, channel, etc.) and controls live distribution based on thisinformation. Thereby, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 displays a message,etc. to notify the user that the live distribution has been permittedand urges the user to start distribution of the content. Upon receptionof this notification, the user states to capture image with the digitalvideo camera 129 by operating the operation dial 126 b and operationbuttons 126 c, creates motion picture data obtained by applyingreal-time effect processing to the captured video, instructs the startof live distribution and sends the created motion picture data to thestreaming server 102 in real time via the dedicated server connectionnetwork 108 (step Sc12).

[0227] Thus, the streaming server 102 that has received the motionpicture data, which is the content sent from the user PC 106 distributesthis by streaming to the client PC 107 that has requested. In this case,if the “open level” of the live distribution (see FIG. 22, etc.) is“Public”, the streaming server 102 performs stream-distributionunconditionally in response to the distribution request, within thecapacity of the channel on which the live distribution is carried out.On the other hand, if the “open level” is “Password” or “Secret”, thestreaming server 102 urges the client PC 107 that has requested thedistribution to enter a password, and performs stream-distribution onlyfor the client PC 107 that has entered a valid password. Thedistribution request between the streaming server 102 and the client PC107 and the stream distribution processing operation will be describedlater.

[0228] Once the live distribution is started in this way, the streamingserver 102 sends the time information of the service provider sideacquired from the NTP server 153 and information on the number of theclient PCs 107 that receive the live distribution, that is, the clientPCs 107 that have requested distribution of the content, to the user PC106. Then, the status window SW (see FIG. 9A) displayed on the displaysection 124 of the user PC 106 shows information that the contents areon the air, information on elapsed time of distribution, timeinformation of the service provider side, time information of the userPC 106 side, information on the number of audiences, reservationstart/end time, residual time information indicating the residual timeof distribution, image size information and information on thedistribution data transmission rate, etc. With reference to the displayof this status window SW, the user can know various kinds of informationon the live distribution currently in progress. Especially, it is amatter of concern for the transmitter of contents how many people areviewing or listening to the content and this also serves as a referencein selecting a channel (selecting the capacity) when live distributionis performed the next time. Thus, the display of the number of audiencedescribed above can be significant to the user.

[0229] In this way, when content is sent from the user PC 106 to thestreaming server 102 and the user of the user PC 106 finishes livedistribution before the reservation end time (time of the serviceprovider side), the user operates the operation dial 126 b (see FIG. 3)etc. to select/determine “distribution start/end” of the GUI (see FIG.9B) in the live distribution mode. Thus, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106finishes the transmission of content and cuts the connection with thestreaming server 102 (step Sc13).

[0230] On the other hand, if the user personally finishes the contenttransmission before the reservation end time, the above processing isperformed, but if the content transmission from the user PC 106 to thestreaming server 102 is in progress when the reservation end time comes,the streaming server 102 finishes stream distribution processing of thecontent sent from the user PC 106 for the client PC 107 when thereservation end time comes. The streaming server 102 further forciblycuts the communication/connection with the user PC 106 at the time offinishing the connection with the user PC 106 indicated by “serveraccessible time” (see FIG. 29).

[0231] B-3-2. Stream Distribution of Content from Streaming Server toClient PC

[0232] What has been explained above is the detail of the contenttransmission processing from the user PC 106, which is the transmitterterminal in live distribution, to the streaming server 102 and thestreaming server 102 receives content transmission from the user PC 106and performs a stream distribution of the content to the client PC 107that has sent a request. This processing operation of contents streamdistribution will be explained with reference to the display screen,etc. of the client PC 107 that sends a distribution request. In thefollowing explanation, suppose the “open level” of the contentdistribution (see FIG. 22) is “Password” or “Secret” and this user ofthe client PC 107 knows the password to receive content.

[0233] When the client user of the client PC 107 sends a contentdistribution request, the client user turns on power to the client PC107 and starts the browser software. Then, the client user enters a URLto identify the top page of the Web page of the live casting server 150on the client PC 107 and the CPU of the client PC 107 sends a requestfor browsing the Web page to the live casting server 150 over theInternet 103. Thus, the live casting server 150 sends the top page ofthe Web page over the Internet 103 and as a result, the display screenof the client PC 107 displays the screen shown in FIG. 13.

[0234] To receive a content distribution, the client user clicks a linkbutton such as “Today's live” (see FIG. 15) or “program guide” (see FIG.17). If the client user clicks the “program guide”, the client userfurther clicks on the current date on the calendar shown on the screenin FIG. 17. Thus, the programs to be distributed on that day isdisplayed as shown in FIG. 15. Then, the client user clicks the “title”link button of the program whose distribution is to be requested fromthe programs displayed.

[0235] When the “title” link button is clicked in this way, the CPU ofthe client PC 107 sends a request for browsing the Web page thatdisplays detailed information of the “title” to the live casting server150 over the Internet 103. Then, the live casting server 150 sends theWeb page that displays detailed information of the specified liveprogram to the client PC 107 over the Internet 103. As a result, thedisplay screen of the client PC 107 displays the screen shown in FIG.16.

[0236] If the client user requests for the distribution of the programwith the detailed information, the client user enters a password toobtain a distribution permission on the display screen shown in FIG. 16and clicks the “Replay” button 175. In the case where the client PC 107does not have real-time replay software, the client user clicks the“Replay software” button 176 before clicking the “Replay” button 175 todownload the replay software beforehand.

[0237] Then, when the password is entered and the “Replay” button 175 isclicked, the CPU of the client PC 107 sends the entered password anddistribution request to the streaming server 102 over the Internet 103.The streaming server 102 sends the sent password to the database server155 and the database server 155 executes authentication processingwhether the password sent is valid with reference to the reservationdatabase 151, and sends the authentication result to the streamingserver 102.

[0238] When the authentication result above shows that the password sentis a valid password, the streaming server 102 judges whether to performa distribution to the client PC 107 based on the capacity preset for thechannel used for the content distribution. More specifically, thestreaming server 102 compares the number of the client PCs 107 carryingout distribution of the content with the capacity and if contentdistribution is already being carried out to the same number of clientPCs 107 as the capacity, the streaming server 102 will perform nofurther distribution. That is, when content distribution is beingcarried out to the client PCs 107 as many as the capacity, at the timeof a distribution request, the streaming server 102 will not respond tothe distribution request.

[0239] On the other hand, if the number of client PCs 107 that receivethe contents is smaller than the capacity at the time of thedistribution request, the streaming server 102 permits the distributionto the requesting client PCs 107 and the streaming server 102 performsstream distribution of the content to the client PCs 107. Once streamdistribution is started in this way, the display screen of the client PC107 displays the replay display screen 390 of the replay software on theprogram detailed information display screen as shown in FIG. 38 and thecontent distributed by streaming is reproduced in real time on thereplay display screen 390. In this way, the users of the client PCs 107can reproduce and view and listen to the live-distributed content inreal time.

[0240] Furthermore, the streaming server 102 counts the number of theclient PCs 107 that sent a request for distribution of the program andare actually receiving the distribution and sends this count result,that is, information of the number of audiences to the contenttransmission terminal (the user PC 106 in the above explanation).

[0241] In the explanation above, the client PCs 107 send a distributionrequest to the streaming server 102 via the Web page of the live castingserver 150, but when a user who has an e-mail address set in the “Friendlist” (see FIG. 22) sends a distribution request using the client PC107, it is also possible to configure the system so that the user entersa URL displayed in “Address information for distribution request” of thee-mail sent from the live casting server 150 as described above (seeFIG. 30) or clicks on a URL being displayed. Carrying out such anoperation, the CPU of the client PC 107 starts processing of connectionto the destination specified by the URL, that is, the streaming server102 and can thereby request the streaming server 102 for distribution.

[0242] C. Modification

[0243] By the way, the present invention is not limited to theembodiment described above, but can be modified in various manners asshown in the following examples.

[0244] (Modification 1)

[0245] In the embodiment above, the streaming server 102stream-distributes to a requesting client PC 107 the contents sent fromthe user PC 106. The streaming server 102 can also be configured so asto carry out a rebroadcast service in such a manner that the contentssent from the user PC 106 is stored in a medium such as a hard disk andis distributed as an on-demand program while the stream distributionprocessing is carried out. In this case, it is possible to post therebroadcast program on the “Today's program” Web page (see FIG. 15) anddistribute the content to the requesting client PC 107.

[0246] Furthermore, the embodiment above performs content distributionby sending motion picture data taken with the digital video camera 129of the user PC 106 in real time as content to the streaming server 102,and also the user can perform content distribution by storing contentcreated beforehand using the user PC 106, etc. in the hard disk 123 andsending the content to the streaming server 102 at a reserveddistribution time. In order to send content in real time using the userPC 106 as described in the aforementioned embodiment, when sendingcontent such as the captured motion picture data, etc. to the streamingserver 102, it is also possible to store the content data in the harddisk 123 of the user PC 106. Then, content distribution may be performedby making a reservation for live distribution again and distributing thestored contents as a rebroadcast program from the user PC 106 to thestreaming server 102.

[0247] (Modification 2)

[0248] In the aforementioned embodiment, the streaming server 102performs the stream distribution of the content sent from the user PC106, to a requesting client PC 107. However, it is also possible toperform a service consisting of not only performing the streamdistribution processing but also storing the contents sent from the userPC 106, in a medium such as a hard disk, writing the content to anotherkind of publicly known package medium such as a compact disc-read onlymemory (CD-ROM) or a digital versatile disc-read only memory (DVD-ROM)and distributing this content to the requesting user. Such a serviceallows the client user of the client PC 107 to view and listen to thelive-distributed content and to request for favorite content written ina package medium to be distributed. As described above, since thededicated server connection network 108 is used as the communicationpath between the user PC 106, which is the terminal for transmitting thecontents, and the streaming server 102, it is possible to secure asufficient transmission band. On the other hand, the communication pathbetween the streaming server 102 and the client PC 107 is the one usingthe Internet 103, and therefore it is not always possible to secure asufficient transmission band, and the communication path is likely to besubject to restrictions on the transmission band. Due to suchrestrictions on the transmission band, it is necessary to reduce thetransmission rate of stream data distributed to the client PC 107 and inthis case, the quality of reproduced image of the content maydeteriorate on the client PC 107 side. The above-described service canrespond to the request for viewing and listening to favorite contentswith high-quality video reproduced. That is, using this service, it ispossible to write content sent from the user PC 106 to the streamingserver 102, directly into a package medium and reproduce the writtencontent data with the client PC 107, allowing the client user to viewand listen to the contents with the same quality as that of the contentsent from the user PC 106 to the streaming server 102. In addition, theclient who receives content recorded in such a package medium can viewand listen to the content by reproducing or displaying it on a TV screenusing a player (can be other than a PC) provided with a function ofreproducing/displaying the content stored in the package medium.

[0249] (Modification 3)

[0250] The aforementioned embodiment permits the user to perform livedistribution only in a time zone reserved beforehand. However, whilelive distribution based on the reservation is in progress, the streamingserver 102 can refer to the reservation database 151, check thereservation situation after the reservation time of the channelcurrently in use is completed and if there is any free space, send amessage such as “Reservation can be extended to oo” to the user PC 106 apredetermined time before the reservation end time (e.g., ten minutesbefore). The status window SW (see FIG. 9A) of the user PC 106 that hasreceived this message, etc. can display this message. In this case, anextension button is displayed on the status window SW, and when thisextension button is clicked, the CPU 120 of the user PC 106 sends theinformation that an extension will be made, to the streaming server 102.The streaming server 102 that has received this permits the extension.Carrying out such an extension service provides effects such as makingit possible to respond to an extension request from the user of the userPC 106 who is the distributor and also allowing the service provider tomake effective use of the channel of the streaming server 102.

[0251] (Modification 4)

[0252] Furthermore, the aforementioned embodiment describes the casewhere the program to execute distribution reservation processing ispre-installed in the hard disk of the live casting server 150 or theprogram to execute various kinds of processing for making a reservationfor distribution or various kinds of processing for live distribution ispre-installed in the hard disk 123 of the user PC 106. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this and it is also possible toinstall the various kinds of the programs by reproducing a programstorage medium which is a package medium such as a compact disc-readonly memory (CD-ROM) or a digital versatile disc-read only memory(DVD-ROM), storing the content distribution program or install thevarious kinds of the programs by reproducing a program storage mediumsuch as semiconductor memory or magneto-optical disk in which such aprogram is stored temporarily or permanently.

[0253] As the means for storing the various kinds of programs in such aprogram storage medium, it is also possible to use wired or wirelesscommunication medium such as a local area network or digital satellitebroadcasting or to store those programs via various communicationinterfaces such as a router and modem.

[0254] (Modification 5)

[0255] Furthermore, the aforementioned embodiment describes the casewhere the Internet 103 is used as the network to make a reservation fordistribution between the user PC 106 and the live casting server 150,but the present invention is not limited to this and it is also possibleto use another type of wired or wireless network.

[0256] Furthermore, in the aforementioned embodiment, the dedicatedserver connection network 108 is provided to connect the user PC 106 andthe streaming server 102, but the present invention is not limited tothis and it is also possible to connect them via the Internet 103.

[0257] (Modification 6)

[0258] Furthermore, in the aforementioned embodiment, the user PC 106with a built-in digital video camera 129 is used as the transmitterterminal for live distribution, but it is also possible to use anordinary PC with a digital video camera connected via the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface, etc. withcables or a PC connected to a digital video camera which is connected byradio. It is also possible to use a cellular phone with a digital videocamera connected using a cable, etc. or a cellular phone with a built-indigital video camera, instead of the user PC 106.

[0259] The case where a cellular phone using a built-in digital videocamera instead of the user PC 106 will be explained below.

[0260] In FIG. 39, reference numeral 200 denotes a network system towhich a cellular phone MS3 applying the present invention is connected,and base stations CS1 to CS4, which are fixed radio stations, arelocated in their respective cells resulting from dividing thecommunication service supply area into desired sizes.

[0261] These base stations CS1 to CS4 are connected to portableinformation terminals MS1 and MS2, which are mobile radio stations, andcamera-integrated digital cellular phones MS3 and MS4 by radio accordingto a wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA) scheme and arecapable of transmitting a large volume data at a high data transfer rateof up to 2 Mbps using a 2 GHz frequency band.

[0262] In this way, the portable information terminals MS1 and MS2 andcamera-integrated digital cellular phones MS3 and MS4 can communicate alarge volume data at a high transfer rate according to the W-CDMAsystem, and can thereby perform not only voice communication but alsovarious kinds of data communication such as transmission/reception ofe-mail, browsing of simple homepages, transmission/reception of images.

[0263] Furthermore, the base stations CS1 to CS4 are connected to thetelephone network 104 via a wired line, and this telephone network 104is connected to the Internet 103 and many subscriber wired terminals(not shown), computer networks and intra-networks, etc.

[0264] The telephone network 104 is also connected to the access serverAS of the Internet service provider and the access server AS isconnected to a contents server TS owned by the Internet serviceprovider.

[0265] This contents server TS provides content such as simple homepageas a file in a compact hyper text markup language (HTML) format, forexample, in response to the request from the subscriber wired terminal,portable information terminals MS1 and MS2 and camera-integrated digitalcellular phones MS3 and MS4. This compact HTML is an HTML subsetobtained by keeping only tags that can be reflected and leaving out therest of a limit-sized display apparatus. For example, iMode (registeredtrademark) of NTT DoCoMo uses an i-mode HTML which focuses on functionsnecessary for a cellular phone and uses 30 types of tags and hasrestrictions such that it is not possible to specify characterattributes and colors of text and a two-gradation GIF file isrecommended for images. It is possible to create a simple homepage filethat is browsed by portable terminals with a limited display area anddisplay capability by using handheld device markup language (HDML) andwireless markup language (HML) which are descriptive languages used forthe compact HML and the mobile communication protocol wirelessapplication protocol (WAP), etc.

[0266] In this network system 200, the Internet 103 is connected to theserver reservation control center 101, streaming server 102 the same asin the aforementioned embodiment, and the subscriber wired terminals,portable information terminals MS1 and MS2 and camera-integrated digitalcellular phones MS3 and MS4 can access the server reservation controlcenter 101 and streaming server 102 according to a protocol such asTCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). In the exampleillustrated, when a content distribution is performed using thestreaming server 102, the camera-integrated digital cellular phones MS3and MS4 send contents to the streaming server 102 over the dedicatedserver connection network 108 as in the aforementioned embodiment, andalso content can be sent over the Internet 103.

[0267] By the way, the portable information terminals MS1 and MS2, andthe camera-integrated digital cellular phones MS3 and MS4 communicatewith base stations CS1 to CS4 using a simple transport protocol of 2Mbps (not shown) and the base stations CS1 to CS4 communicate with WWWserver WS1 to “WSn over the Internet ITN using a TCP/IP protocol.

[0268] By the way, the management control unit MCU is connected to thesubscriber wired terminals, portable information terminals MS1 and MS2and camera-integrated digital cellular phones MS3 and MS4 via thetelephone network 104 and is responsible for authentication processingand billing processing on the subscriber wired terminals, portableinformation terminals MS1 and MS2 and camera-integrated digital cellularphones MS3 and MS4.

[0269] Next, a configuration example of the appearance of thecamera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 that can be used instead ofthe user PC 106 above will be explained. As shown in FIG. 40, thecamera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 is divided into the displaysection 212 and main unit 213 with the hinge 211 located in the centeras the boundary and is foldable via the hinge 211.

[0270] The display section 212 has a transmission/reception antenna 214at the top left set in a telescopic manner and radio waves aretransmitted/received to/from the base station CS3 via the antenna 214.

[0271] Furthermore, the display section 212 is provided with a camerasection 215 at the top center which is pivotable at an angle of nearly180 degrees and a CCD camera 216 mounted in the camera section 215allows a desired object to be captured.

[0272] Here, in the display section 212 when the user rotates the camerasection 215 nearly 180 degrees, a speaker 217 provided in the center onthe back of the camera section 215 faces toward the front, whichprovides a normal voice conversation state.

[0273] The display section 212 is further provided with an LCD display218 on the front to show the reception quality of a radio wave, thebattery level, names and telephone numbers registered in a telephonedirectory, transmission history, contents of e-mail, simple homepage andimages taken with the CCD camera 216 of the camera section 215.

[0274] On the other hand, the main unit 213 is provided with operationkeys 219 including numeral keys “0” to “9”, call key, redial key,end/power key, clear key and e-main key and it is possible to entervarious commands using these operation keys 219.

[0275] The main unit 213 is also provided with a memo button 220 and amicrophone 221 under the operation keys 219 and it is possible to recordvoice during a call using the memo button 220 and collect the user'svoice during conversation by the microphone 221.

[0276] The main unit 213 is also provided with a jog dial 222 above theoperation keys 219, which is pivotable and slightly protrudes from thesurface of the main unit 213, and executes various operations such asscrolling of the telephone directory and e-mail displayed on the LCDdisplay 218, rolling-up of the simple homepage and image feedingoperations, etc, according to the rotation operation of the jog dial222.

[0277] For example, when the user selects a desired telephone numberfrom among a plurality of telephone numbers in the telephone directorydisplayed on the LCD display 218 according to the rotation operation ofthe jog dial 222 and presses the jog dial 222 toward inside the mainunit 213, the main unit 213 confirms the selected telephone number andautomatically calls on the relevant telephone number.

[0278] By the way, the main unit 213 is provided with a battery pack(not shown) on the back and when the end/power key is in the ON state,the battery supplies power to each section to drive them.

[0279] On the other hand, the main unit 213 is also provided with amemory stick slot 224 to insert a removable memory stick (trademark ofSony Corporation) on the top left side of the main unit 213 and when thememo button 220 is pressed, it is possible to record the voice of theother party in communication in this memory stick or store e-mail,simple homepage or images taken by the CCD camera 216 according to theoperations by the user.

[0280] The memory stick 223 is a type of flash memory card developed bySony Corporation, the present applicant. This memory stick 223 containsa flash memory element, which is an electrically erasable andprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), a kind of electrically erasableand programmable non-volatile memory, in a small, thin plastic case of21.5 (H)×50 (W)×2.8 (D)mm, and allows write/read of various kinds ofdata such as images, voice and music via a ten-pin terminal.

[0281] Furthermore, the memory stick 223 uses a special serial protocolthat can secure compatibility with apparatuses used even if thespecification of an internal flash memory is changed because ofintroduction of a large-volume memory, implements high-speed performancewith a maximum writing speed of 1.5 MB/S and maximum read speed of 2.45MB/S and secures high reliability by providing a erroneous erasureprotection switch.

[0282] Constructed with the capability of inserting such a memory stick223, the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 can share datawith other electronic devices via this memory stick 223.

[0283] As illustrated in FIG. 42, in the camera-integrated digitalcellular phone MS3, a main control section 250 that controls the displaysection 212 and main unit 213, a power supply circuit 251, an operationinput control section 252, an image encoder 253, a camera interfacesection 254, a liquid crystal display (LCD) control section 255, animage decoder 256, a multiplexing/separation section 257, arecord/replay section 262, a modulation/demodulation circuit 258 and anaudio CODEC 259, are mutually connected by a main bus 260, and the imageencoder 253, the image decoder 256, the multiplexing/separation section257, the modulation/demodulation circuit 258 and the audio CODEC 259 aremutually connected by a synchronous bus 261.

[0284] The power supply circuit 251, when the user turns ON theend/power key, supplies power from the battery pack to each sections todrive the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3.

[0285] The camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 converts theaudio signal collected by the microphone 221 to digital audio data bythe audio CODEC 259 in voice conversation mode, subjects this to spreadspectrum processing at the modulation/demodulation circuit 258, subjectsthis to digital/analog conversion processing and frequency conversionprocessing at the transmission/reception circuit 263 and transmits theresultant from the antenna 214, under the control of main controlsection 250 composed of a CPU, ROM and RAM, etc.

[0286] The camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 amplifies thereception signal received by the antenna 214 in the voice conversationmode, subjects this to frequency conversion processing andanalog/digital conversion processing, subjects this to despread spectrumprocessing at the modulation/demodulation circuit 258, converts theresultant to an analog audio signal at the audio CODEC 259 and outputsthis via the speaker 217.

[0287] Furthermore, when transmitting an e-mail in the datacommunication mode, the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3sends text data of the e-mail which has been entered by operating theoperation keys 219 and jog dial 222 to the main control section 250 viathe operation input control section 252.

[0288] The main control section 250 subjects the text data to spreadspectrum processing at the modulation/demodulation circuit 258, subjectsto digital/analog conversion processing and frequency conversionprocessing at the transmission/reception circuit 263 and then transmitsthe resultant to the base station CS3 (see FIG. 39) via the antenna 214.

[0289] On the other hand, when receiving an e-mail in the datacommunication mode, the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3subjects the reception signal received by the base station CS3 via theantenna 214 to despread spectrum processing at themodulation/demodulation circuit 258, restores the original text data andthen displays the text data as the e-mail on the LCD display 218 via theLCD control section 255.

[0290] Then, the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 can alsostore the e-mail, which has been received according to the operation ofthe user, in the memory stick 223 via the record/replay section 262.

[0291] On the other hand, when sending image data in the datacommunication mode, the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3supplies the image data taken by the CCD camera 216, to the imageencoder 253 via the camera interface section 254.

[0292] By the way, when no image data is sent, the camera-integrateddigital cellular phone MS3 can also directly display the image datataken by the CCD camera 216 on the LCD display 218 via the camerainterface section 254 and LCD control section 255.

[0293] The image encoder 253 converts the image data supplied from theCCD camera 216 into encoded image data, by compressing/encodingaccording to a predetermined encoding system such as moving pictureexperts group (MPEG) 2 or MPEG4 and sends this to themultiplexing/separation section 257.

[0294] At this time, the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3sends the voice collected by the microphone 221 during shooting by theCCD camera 216 as digital audio data to the multiplexing/separationsection 257 via the audio CODEC 259.

[0295] The multiplexing/separation section 257 multiplexes the encodedimage data supplied from the image encoder 253 and the audio datasupplied from the audio CODEC 259 according to a predetermined system,subjects the resultant multiplexed data to spread spectrum processing atthe modulation/demodulation circuit 258, subjects this to digital/analogconversion processing and frequency conversion processing at thetransmission/reception section 262 and transmits the resultant via theantenna 214.

[0296] On the other hand, in data communication mode, when receiving,for example, data of a motion picture file linked to a simple homepage,etc., the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 subjects thereception signal received via the antenna 214 from the base station CS3to despread spectrum processing at the modulation/demodulation circuit258 and sends the resultant multiplexed data to themultiplexing/separation section 257.

[0297] The multiplexing/separation section 257 separates the multiplexeddata into encoded image data and audio data, supplies the encoded imagedata to the image decoder 256 and supplies the audio data to the audioCODEC 259 via the synchronous bus 261.

[0298] The image decoder 256 decodes the encoded image data according toa decoding system corresponding to a predetermined encoding system suchas MPEG2 or MPEG4 to create reproduced motion picture data, suppliesthis to the LCD display 218 via the LCD control section 255, andthereby, for example, motion picture data contained in the motionpicture file linked to the simple homepage is displayed.

[0299] At the same time, the audio CODEC 259 converts audio data to ananalog audio signal, then supplies this to the speaker 217 and thereby,reproduces audio data included in the motion picture file linked to thesimple homepage, for example.

[0300] In this case, as in the case of e-mail, the camera-integrateddigital cellular phone MS3 can store the data linked to the receivedsimple homepage, etc. in the memory stick 223 via the recording/replaysection 262 through operations by the user.

[0301] In addition to such a configuration, the camera-integrateddigital cellular phone MS3 stores an application program, etc. similarto that in the aforementioned embodiment in the ROM of the main controlsection 250, accesses the live casting server 150 (see FIG. 12) of thereservation control center 101 based on this application program, canthereby perform live distribution reservation processing includingmember registration and reconfirmation to the live casting server 150,and when a reservation is made, receives the reservation settinginformation file (see FIG. 28) and automatically encrypts and saves thefile. At this time, the camera-integrated digital cellular phone MS3 canperform processing similar to live distribution processing based on areservation carried out by the user PC 106 in the aforementionedembodiment. Thus, in a live distribution, the camera-integrated digitalcellular phone MS3 automatically reads the reservation settinginformation file saved in the reservation processing and establishes acommunication/connection with the streaming server 102 and sends thecontent taken with the CCD camera 216 to the streaming server 102 andperforms a live distribution of the content.

[0302] While there has been described in connection with the preferredembodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications may be aimed, therefore, tocover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server reservation method whereby a userterminal apparatus makes a reservation for the use of a processingserver that performs predetermined processing to a reservation controlapparatus that controls the reservation state of said processing servervia a network in order for said user terminal apparatus to use thefunctions of said processing server by accessing said processing servervia the network, said server reservation method comprising: areservation requesting step of sending reservation request informationincluding a desired service time to use said processing server from saiduser terminal apparatus to said reservation control apparatus via thenetwork; a permission notifying step of transmitting, when thereservation for the use of said processing server during said desiredservice time included in said reservation request information isaccepted, the permission notification information to notify that thereservation is accepted, to said user terminal apparatus via thenetwork; a reconfirming step of transmitting reconfirmation informationfor said accepted reservation, from said user terminal apparatus to saidreservation control apparatus via the network; and a reservationconfirming step of confirming said reservation when said reservationcontrol apparatus receives said reconfirmation information sent fromsaid user terminal apparatus, by a predetermined time before saiddesired service time, and of canceling said reservation when saidreservation control apparatus does not receive said reconfirmationinformation by a predetermined time before said desired service time. 2.The server reservation method according to claim 1, further comprising abilling step of performing billing processing related to saidreservation when the reservation is confirmed in said reservationconfirming step.
 3. The server reservation method according to claim 1,wherein said predetermined processing executed by said processing serveris processing of distributing content data by streaming to therequesting client terminal apparatus via the network.
 4. The serverreservation method according to claim 1, wherein said permissionnotifying step does not permit said reservation when the total time ofreservations by the user of said user terminal apparatus during apredetermined period exceeds a preset time.
 5. A reservation controlapparatus for controlling reservations for the use of a processingserver that carries out predetermined processing in order for a userterminal apparatus to use the functions of said processing server byaccessing said processing server via a network, said reservation controlapparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving reservation requestinformation including a desired service time to use said processingserver supplied from said user terminal apparatus via the network;permission notifying means for sending, when the reservation for the useof said processing server during said desired service time included insaid reservation request information is accepted, permissionnotification information to notify that the reservation is accepted, tosaid user terminal apparatus via the network; reconfirmation informationreceiving means for receiving the reconfirmation information for saidaccepted reservation sent from said user terminal apparatus via thenetwork; and reservation confirming means for confirming saidreservation when said reconfirmation information is received by apredetermined time before said desired service time, and for cancelingsaid reservation when said reconfirmation information is not received bya predetermined time before said desired service time.
 6. Thereservation control apparatus according to claim 5, further comprisingbilling means for carrying out billing processing related to saidreservation when the reservation is confirmed by said reservationconfirming means.
 7. The reservation control apparatus according toclaim 5, further comprising reservation permission judging means forjudging whether the total reservation time by the user of said userterminal apparatus during a preset period exceeds the preset time andfor rejecting said reservation when the total reservation time by theuser of said user terminal apparatus during a preset period exceeds thepreset time.
 8. A program storage medium storing a program to beexecuted by a reservation control apparatus that controls reservationsfor the use of a processing server that carries out predeterminedprocessing in order for a user terminal apparatus to use the functionsof said processing server by accessing said processing server via anetwork, said program comprising: reception processing of receivingreservation request information including a desired service time to usesaid processing server supplied from said user terminal apparatus viathe network; permission notification processing of sending, when thereservation for the use of said processing server during said desiredservice time included in said reservation request information isaccepted, permission notification information to notify that thereservation is accepted, to said user terminal apparatus via thenetwork; reconfirmation information reception processing of receivingthe reconfirmation information for said accepted reservation sent fromsaid user terminal apparatus via the network; and reservationconfirmation processing of confirming said reservation when saidreconfirmation information is received by a predetermined time beforesaid desired service time, and of canceling said reservation when saidreconfirmation information is not received by a predetermined timebefore said desired service time.